Ifirn^amin  She  Wihediev 


1 


UNIVERSITY    LECTURES 


PHONETICS 


Delivered  in  Johns  Hopkins  University,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Oxford 
University,  England, 

With  an  Appendix  on  the  Phonetics  of  Roman  Letters. 


ALEXANDER  MELVILLE   BELL, 

AUTHOR    OF 

VISIBLE    SPEECH,"     "SOUNDS    AND    THEIR    RELATIONS,"     "PRINCIPLES    OF    SPEECH, 

"  PRINCIPLES  OF  ELOCUTION,"  "  ESSAYS  AND  POSTSCRIPTS  ON  ELOCUTION," 

ETC.,    ETC.,    ETC. 


Edgar  S.  Werner,  New  York, 
48  university  place. 

1887. 


^^,_^  a/  '^/^s- 


WORKS  BY  A.  MELVILLE   BELL. 


Vocal  Physiology  and  Impediments  of  Speech. 

I.  PEINCIPLES   OF   SPEECH,  DICTIONARY  OF 

SOUNDS,  AND  CUEE  OF  STAMMERING.— In  this  work  the  theory 
of  articulation  and  the  mechanism  of  elementary  sounds  are  minutely 
explained.  English  elements  are  separately  treated  of  with  reference 
to  the  Defects  to  which  they  are  subject;  and  directions  are  given  by 
which  the  Stammerer  can,  by  his  own  efforts,  remove  the  impediment. 
— Uemsed  Edition.     12mo,  cloth.     Price  $1.50. 

II.  THE  FAULTS  OF  SPEECH.— A  Self-Corrector  and 
Teachers'  Manual  for  the  removal  of  all  Defects  of  Articulation. — 16mo, 
cloth.     Price  60  cents. 


Theory  and  Practice  of  Elocution. 

ni.  PRINCIPLES  OF  ELOCUTION.— This  work  contains 
a  full  development  of  the  principles  of  Expressive  delivery ;  an  original 
analysis  of  the  Tones  of  speech;  the  laws  of  Emphasis,  Gesture,  &c., 
with  a  large  collection  of  marked  Illustrations  and  Exercises. — Fourth 
Edition.    12mo,  cloth.     Price  $1.50. 

"  Prof.  Bell  is  well  known  as  the  author  of  '  Visible  Speech,"*  '  Principles  of  Speech  and 
the  Cure  of  Stammering,'  '  Standard  Elocutionist,'  etc.  He  is  the  ablest  living  writer  on 
the  voice,  its  culture,  management,  etc.  The  work  now  noticed  is  the  fourth  edition  of  the 
book.  In  addition  to  the  theoretical  portions,  there  are  a  large  number  of  choice  extracts> 
marked  carefully  for  the  guidance  of  the  student,  in  pronunciation,  intonation,  emphasis, 
gesture,  and  emotional  expression." — Canada  School  Journal. 

"  Without  question,  the  writings  and  methods  of  instruction  of  Mr.  Bell  have  exercised 
a  potent  influence  on  all  elocutionary  literature  of  the  last  thirty  years.  To  an  educator 
the  introduction  is  worth  many  times  the  cost  of  the  volume.  The  principles  are  admir- 
ably stated  " — New  England  Journal  of  Education. 

" '  The  Principles  of  Elocution '  is  the  best  manual  of  the  science  and  art  of  speaking  we 
have  seen.  It  is  simple,  systematic,  and  thorough,  and  drives  home  every  precept  with 
an  appropriate  example."— iCmjfs ton  Daily  News. 

"  As  a  minute  and  thorough  analysis  of  the  art  of  expression,  it  is  without  equal  among 
recent  books.     It  is  worth  a  host  of  ordinary  works  on  elocution.^'— Educational  Weekly. 

"  I  think  your  book  one  of  the  best,  as  it  is  certainly  the  most  complete  that  has 
appeared." — Alex.  J.  Ellis,  F.  K.  S. 

IV.  THE  EMPHASISED  LITUEGY.— The  Morning, 

Evening,  Communion  and  Burial  services,  and  all  the  Collects,  marked 
for  Emphasis  and  Clause.  With  introductory  essay  on  the  principles 
of  Public  Reading.— 12w<?,  cloth.     Price  $1.00. 

V.  LECTURE  ON  THE  ART  OF  DELIVERY,  and  the 
influence  of  school  discipline  on  Public  OroXoiy.— Pamphlet.  Price  15 
cents. 

VI.  LECTURE  ON  SERMON  READING  AND  MEMOR- 
ITER  jyELVfEiBn.— Pamphlet.     Price  15  cents. 


*,*  Professor  Bell's  Works  may  be  ordered  through  any  bookseller,  or  they  will  be 
mailed,  free,  on  receipt  of  price,  by  the  Publisher,  E.  S.  WERNER,  48  University 
Place,  New  York,  or  by  the  Author,  1525  35th  street,  Washington,  D.  C. 


WORKS    BY   A.    MELVILLE    BELL— Continued. 


JUST  PUBLISHED. 

VII.  ESSAYS  AND  POSTSCRIPTS  ON  ELOCUTION.— 

12mo,  cloth.    Price  $1.25. 

PTwnetics,  and  Visible  Speech. 

Vin.  VISIBLE  SPEECH.— The  Science  of  Universal 
Alphabetics,  Self- interpreting  Physiological  Letters  for  writing  all  Lan- 
guages, and  for  teaching  the  Deaf  to  speak.  Illustrated  by  Tables,  Dia- 
grams, and  Examples. — Inaugural  Edition.     4to,  cloth.     Price  $4.00. 

IX.  ENGLISH  VISIBLE  SPEECH— For  teaching  the 
exact  pronunciation  of  the  language. — Paper  covers,  4io.     Price  40  cents. 

X.  CLASS  PEIMER  OF  VISIBLE  SPEECH.— The  ex- 
ercises without  the  theoretical  part  of  the  preceding  book. — Paper  covers , 
4:to.     Price  20  cents. 

XI.  EXPLANATORY  LECTURE  ON  VISIBLE  SPEECH, 

with  Universal  Alphabet. — Pamphlet.    Price  15  cents. 

Xn.   UNIVERSAL  STENO- PHONOGRAPHY.  — On   the 

basis  of  Visible  Speech. — Stiff  covers,  8vo.     Price  70  cents.. 

New  Manual  of  Visible  Speech. 

Xni.  SOUNDS  AND  THEIR  RELATIONS.— This  work 
serves  the  double  purpose  of  teaching  the  varieties  and  relations  of  Lin- 
guistic Sounds,  and  at  the  same  time  of  presenting  the  details  of  Visible 
Speech  with  clearness  and  simplicity. — Manilla  covers,  Uo.  Price  $1.50 ; 
cloth,  price  $2.00. 

XIV.  VISIBLE  SPEECH  READER.— On  the  basis  of 
"Sounds  and  their  Relations."  For  teaching  children.— P^j^er  covers, 
12wo.     Price  40  cents. 

JUST  PUBLISHED. 

XV.  ENGLISH  LINE  WRITING.— A  new,  simple,  and 
exact  system  of  Phonetics.  For  children  and  adults. — Paper  covers,  Sw. 
Price  60  cents. 

JUST  PUBLISHED. 

XVI.  LECTURES  ON  PHONETICS.— Dehvered  (in  1865) 
in  Johns  Hopkins  University,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Oxford  University,  England. 
— Pa/per  covtrs,  Hvo.     Price  60  cents. 

•,*  ProfesaoT  Bell'H  WorkH  may  be  ordered  through  any  bookseller,  or  they  will  be 
mailed,  free,  on  receipt  of  price,  by  the  Publisher,  E.  B.  WERNER,  48  University 
Place,  WBW  YoHK,  or  by  the  Author,  1526  86th  street,  Washington,  D.  C. 


UNIVERSITY    LECTURES 


ON 


PHONETICS. 


Delivered  in  Johns  Hopkins  University,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Oxford 
University,  England, 

With  an  Appendix  on  the  Phonetics  of  Roman  Letters. 


•  ALEXANDER  MELVILLE   BELL, 

AUTHOR   OF 

♦ 

VISIBLE    SPEECH,"     ''SOUNDS    AND    THEIR     RELATIONS,"     "PRINCIPLES    OF    SPEECH, 

"  PRINCIPLES  OF  ELOCUTION,"  "  ESSAYS  AND  POSTSCRIPTS  ON  ELOCUTION," 

ETC.,    ETC.,    ETC. 


Edgar  S.  Werner,  New  York, 
48  university  place. 


:':i  c  •" 


o      < 


X4v^-^^ 


0^^'-" 


PREFACE 


These  Lectures  were  received  with  so  gr^at  favour  on 
their  delivery  in  Johns  Hopkins  University  (February,  1885) 
that  their  publication  may  be  expected  to  excite  an  inter- 
est in   their  subject  among  students   and  teachers  generally. 

The  Lectures  were  subsequently  delivered  —  on  invita- 
tion of  Professor  Max  Miiller — in  the  Taylor  Institution, 
Oxford    University. 

The  Physiological  Symbols  for  speech-actions  and  sounds — 
originally  introduced  in  •'  Visible  Speech — are  here  made 
use  of  to  teach  the  varieties  and  the  mechanism  of  lin- 
guistic elements,  with  a  precision  not  otherwise  attainable. 
The  symbols  themselves  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  so  thoroughly 
understood,  as  to  be  easily  applied,  either  to  native  or  for- 
eign sounds.  By  means  of  these  unambiguous  phonetic 
letters,  the  exact  characteristics  of  any  utterance,  in  any 
language,  are  expressible  with  universal  legibility. 

Teachers  are  specially  invited  to  test  the  effect  of  using 
the  symbols  in  black-board  illustrations.  A  discriminating 
knowledge  of  the  various  sounds  of  ordinary  letters,  and 
other  phonetic  niceties,  will  be,  in  this  way,  eifectively  com- 
municated even  to  the  youngest  classes. 

Washington,  D.  C, 

1525  35^/i  Street. 


692630 


5      1        D 


LECTURES  ON  PHONETICS. 


I  trust  that  I  shall  be  able  to  interest  you  in  the  subject 
on  which  I  have  undertaken  to  deliver  a  short  course  of 
Lectures — namely,  Phonetics,  I  had  the  honour  of  receiv- 
ing the  invitation — a  renewal  of  which  brings  me  hera* — 
a  dozen  years  ago,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  take  advantage 
of  it  until  now,  in  consequence  of  my  continued  absence 
from    England. 

The  subject  of  Phonetics  was  my  special  study  for  a  great 
many  years;  and,  if  I  should  happily  succeed  in  inspiring 
you  with  something  of  my  own  feeling  in  regard  to  it,  you 
will  not  be  deterred  by  initiatory  detail,  but  will  prosecute 
the  study  in  the  love  of  it,  and  for  its  utility,  long  after 
our   meetings   shall   have   come   to   an   end. 

The  term  Phonetics  signifies  the  doctrine  of  sounds  in 
general;  but  the  use  of  the  term  is  commonly  and  con- 
veniently limited  to  the  elementary  sounds  of  speech,  and 
their  representation  by  letters.  I  shall  give  a  somewhat 
wider  definition,  by  including  all  oral  effects  in  speech,  and 
their  graphic  representation.  In  this  way,  hiatus,  and  other 
silent  eifects,  and  also  tones,  are  comprehended  under 
Phonetics. 

All  human  utterances  may  be  resolved  into  elementary 
sounds,  or  oral  actions;  and  all  the  varieties  of  phonetic 
elements  in  different  languages,  are  the  result  of  definite 
mechanical  adjustments  of  the  organs  of  speech.  The 
organs  are  the  same  in  all  men;  and,  consequently,  every 
person  possesses  naturally  the  ability  to  speak  any,  or  every 
language. 

*  The  University  of  Oxford,  where  the  Lectures  were  delivered  in  April,  1886. 


,    ,  2 

'  The'  speaking  apparatus  con^sts,  first,  of  a  reservoir  for 
/aiic^  Secspn^lj,  of  a  reed  for  forming  sound;  and,  thirdly, 
of  a  resonance-box,  susceptible  of  a  great  variety  of  mod- 
ifying configurations.  The  air  reservoir  is  in  the  chest — the 
lungs;  the  reed  is  in  the  throat — the  glottis;  and  the  reso- 
nance box  is  made  up  of  the  cavities  between  the  throat 
and  the  lips — th3  pharynx,  with  its  outlets,  the  mouth  and 
the  nose.  By  considering  the  instrument  of  speech  in  this 
simple  manner,  we  shall  gain  a  clearer  idea  of  the  mutual 
relations  of  the  organs  of  respiration,  voice,  and  articulation, 
than  we  should  by  the  most  exact  study  of  the  structure 
of  the  organs  themselves.  Thus,  the  air  reservoir  may  be 
too  contracted,  or  it  may  be  insufficiently  charged;  the  reed 
may  be  out  of  order;  or  some  part  of  the  resonance-box  may 
be  leaky;  and  certain  kinds  of  imperfection  in  utterance 
will    necessarily   follow. 

Speech   elements   are   of  three  classes : 

I.  Those  produced  by  voice. 
II.  Those  produced  by  unvocalised  breath. 
III.  Those  produced  by  the  mouth. 

Each  of  these  classes  includes  several  varieties.     Thus : 

Voice-elements  include :  Vowels,  Consonants,  Glides,  and 
Tones. 

Breath-elements  include :  Vowels,  Consonants,  and  Inhala- 
tions. 

Mouth- elements  include :  Cavities,  Percussions,  and  Suc- 
tions. 

For  practical  purposes,  the  most  important  sounds  are 
those  which  make  up  ordinary  speech.  These,  therefore, 
will  occupy  the  largest  share  of  our  attention. 

All  the  varieties  above  named — except  Inhalations — occur 
among  the  common  elementary  sounds  of  languages;  but,  for 
the   most   i>art,  they   are   very    inadequately    represented    in 


writing.  Glides  have  no  distinctive  signs;  Tones  are  sel- 
dom expressed;  and  Vowels  and  Consonants  are  so  insuffi- 
ciently provided  with  letters  that  innumerable  inconsistencies 
of  spelling  are  the  result.  The  same  alphabet"  is,  besides, 
used  for  many  languages,  and  the  letters  are  differently  em- 
ployed in  each  language.  The  characters,  indeed,  may  be 
said  to  be  international,  but  their  phonetic  value  changes 
at  every  national  boundary.  Practically,  therefore,  each  lan- 
guage has  its  own  alphabet. 

The  inconvenience  of  such  diversity  has  impelled  gener- 
erations  of  scholars  to  much  fruitless  labour  in  endeavours 
to  arrange  an  alphabet  adapted  for  international  employment. 
A  universal  alphabet  that  should  furnish  a  distinct  character 
for  every  sound  had  long  been  a  dream  of  Philology;  but 
this  difficulty  prevented  its  realisation,  namely :  That  the 
ultimate  elementary  sounds  of  languages  baffled  investiga 
tion;  while,  of  the  comparatively  small  number  of  sounds 
respecting  which  there  was  agreement,  the  relations  of  the 
sounds  to  each  other  could  not  be  satisfactorily  determined. 
Many  speech-sounds  are  modified  by  such  minute  and  occult 
organic  changes,  and  are  so  evanescent  in  their  nature  that 
even  a  trained  ear  can  with  diflficulty  identify  them  in  their 
combinations.  The  same  sound  seems  to  have  a  different 
quality  in  new  positions;  and  really  differing  sounds  seem 
to  merge  into  one,  under  the  influence  of  associated  elements. 
We  have  all  learned  to  speak  by  imitation  merely;  acquir- 
ing by  single  perceptions  a  knowledge  of  words,  the  utter- 
ance of  which  involves  very  complex  organic  operations; 
and  the  latter  are  performed  entirely  by  habit,  and  without 
any  consciousness  of  the  mechanisms  on  which  we  act. 
Besides  this,  the  letters  by  which  we  write  our  words  have 
little — or,  sometimes,  no — relation  to  the  sounds  they  rep- 
resent. In  fact,  if  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  were 
shaken  together  in  a  bag,  and  the  first  drawn  out  were  called 
A,  the  second  B,  the  third  C,  and  so  forth,  they  would  serve 


the  purpose  of  denoting  the  elements  of  speech  almost  as 
well  under  this  chance  arrangement  as  they  do  now. 

In  1854  a  concerted  effort  was  made  to  collate  the  ele- 
ments of  an  international  alphabet  by  a  conference  of  the 
leading  philologists  of  Europe,  which  was  held  in  London 
under  the  presidency  of  the  Russian  ambassador,  the  Chev- 
alier Bunsen.  After  four  deliberations  the  attempt  was 
abandoned,  because  no  more  than  seventeen  sounds — and 
those  the  commonest  in  all  languages — could  be  agreed  on 
as  sufficiently  definite  for  inclusion  in  the  proposed  alpha- 
bet. The  want  of  a  physiological  basis  was  declared  to 
be  the  insuperable  impediment  to  the  construction  of  an 
international  scheme.  To  this  declaration  was  added,  as 
the  final  and  unanimous  Resolution  of  the  Conference,  that 
"  it  would  be  useless  and  impossible  to  attempt  to  provide 
for  every  shade  of  sound  a  distinct  graphic  sign."  The 
recommendation  was  that — typical  letters  being  selected — 
each  nation  should  adopt  to  represent  its  peculiar  sounds 
the  letters  whose  ordinary  phonetic  values  most  nearly  re- 
sembled the  sounds  to  be  denoted.  In  the  then  existing 
state  of  the  highest  knowledge  of  Phonetics,  as  expounded 
by  this  learned  Conference,  the  provision  of  a  separate  sign 
for  every  recognised  shade  of  sound  was  declared  to  be  an 
impossibility.  In  the  absence  of  a  physiological  basis,  such 
a  literation  of  sounds  was,  no  doubt,  impossible;  but  the 
physiological  basis  might  be  found.  In  a  very  few  years 
afterward  it  was  found;  and  the  previous  impossibility  be- 
came entirely  practicable.  For,  not  only  every  linguistic 
element,  but  every  possible  shade  of  sound — every  action, 
and  even  every  silent  position  of  the  vocal  organs—has 
on  this  basis,  its  own  distinct  graphic  sign. 

The  operative  vocal  organs  are :  the  lungs,  to  supply 
breath;  the  glottis,  to  vocalise  it;  the  pharynx,  to  compress 
it;  the  tongue  and  the  lips  to  parcel  it;  and  the  cavities  of 
pharynx,  mouth,  and  nose,  to  mould  it.     What  of  the  teeth? 


Are  they  not  operative?  In  mastication  they  are  so,  but 
not  in  speech.  There  we  have  simply  to  keep  them  out  of 
the  way.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  grammarians  have 
used  the  term  ••  dentals "  to  denote  a  whole  class  of  ele- 
mentary sounds,  there  is  not  an  element  that  cannot  be 
distinctly  formed  by  a  speaker  who  has  not  a  tooth  in  his 
head.  The  sound  of  tli  is  the  one  in  which  the  teeth  are 
the  most  obviously  employed;  but  the  characteristic  quality 
of  th  may  b3  produced  with  the  tip  of  the  tongue  applied 
to  any  accessible  part  of  the  mouth — to  the  palate — to  the 
gum — to  the  teeth — or  even  to  the  lips. 

A  fundamental  question  is  :  What  constitutes  a  word?  Is 
it  the  uttered  sound,  or  the  letters  by  which  the  sound  is 
represented?  In  English,  it  is  both.  The  sound  is  the 
primitive  word,  but  the  letters  by  which  the  sound  is  writ- 
ten constituts  a  separate  pictorial  word.  Thus,  the  words 
night  and  knight  have  the  same  sound,  but  they  are  two 
words,  having  no  connection  in  sense.  Almost  every  Eng- 
lish sound  has  a  diversity  of  modes  in  which  it  is  written; 
and  this  diversity  contributes  to  the  pictorial  distinctiveness 
of  words.  Herein  lies  the  source  of  the  objections  so  com- 
monly urged  against  alterations  in  spelling :  they  destroy 
the  identity  of  pictorial  words.  But  the  sounds  of  words — 
that  is,  the  primitive  words  themselves — have  changed;  and 
they  are  constantly  changing  to  a  greater  or  less  extent; 
while  the  pictorial  words  have,  since  the  universal  dilfusion 
of  literature  through  the  printing  press,  become  generally 
fixed. 

Mr.  Alexander  John  Ellis  has  devoted  much  ingenious  re- 
search to  the  discovery  of  the  details  pf  English  pronuncia- 
tion as  heard  in  the  days  of  Chaucer  and  of  Shakespeare. 
The  regular  sound  of  A  was  then  ah ;  so  that  what  we  call 
"  and "  was  ahnd,  "  face  "  was  fahs,  "  Shakespeare  "  was 
Shahkspare,  &c.  The  letters  ew,  whicli  we  pronounce  u  in 
v'eiv,  oo  in   drew^  and  o  in   sew,  were  uniformly  heard,   in 


6 

accordance  with  the  spelling,  as  e-oo.  Thus,  new  was  ne-oo, 
drew  was  dre-oo,  sew  was  se-oo.  Our  "  short "  u  was 
sounded  oo,  as  in  oos  and  oop  for  us  and  up\  and  our 
"  long  "  u,  as  in  tune,  music,  mule,  was  the  same  as  the  Ger- 
man ii — a  sound  which  has  dropped  entirely  out  of  our  lan- 
guage.   Thus,  in  the  Shakespearean  theatre,  the  line 

"Mewling  and  puking  in  the  nurse's  arms/'  ^ 

was  heard  as : 

"Me-ooling  ahnd  piiking  in  the  noorse's  arms." 

The  general  effect  of  Shakespearian  English,  as  repro- 
duced by  Mr.  Ellis,  is  very  like  the  pronunciation  still  lin- 
gering in  some  of  the  counties  of  England,  and  in  the  low- 
lands of  Scotland;  although  modern  intercourse  and  education 
are  fast  obliterating  old  customs  of  speech.  These  modes 
of  provincial  English,  and  of  Scottish  utterance  are,  doubt- 
less, with  very  slight  changes,  the  modes  in  which  the  language 
was  pronounced  by  the  best  speakers  in  the  days  of  Queen 
Elisabeth.  Look  at  the  spelling  of  words,  as  practised  then, 
and  in  earlier  times  :  it  is  altogether  unsettled  and  arbitrary ; 
the  same  writer  often  spelling  the  same  word  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  Even  Shakespeare,  we  are  told,  spells  his  own 
name — so  far  as  it  is  decipherable — in  almost  as  many  ways 
as  we  have  specimens  of  his  autograph.  When  we  look  at 
the  works  of  the  fathers  of  our  literature,  we  must  admit 
that  there  can  be  but  little  force  in  the  objections  made  to 
alterations  in  our  present  spelling.  One  might  as  well 
maintain  that  the  spelling  oY  the  Elisabethan  age  should  be 
tlie  standard  for  our  orthography  in  all  time.  Why  select 
tlie  present  period  to  furnish  a  standard?  Its  only  claim 
to  the  distinction  is  that  it  is  an  age  of  books,  and  mag- 
azines, and  newspapers — and  readers;  and  that  any  change 
now  made  would  be  felt  by  perhaps  hundreds  of  thousands, 
for  every  single  reader  who  would  have  been  affected  by 


a  change,  in  the  time  of  Chaucer  or  even  of  Shakespeare. 
Objections  to  any  desirable  and  consistent  change  are,  in 
view  of  the  historic  facts  of  orthography,  altogether  ground- 
less. If  the  written  word  can  be  made  to  correspond  with 
the  spoken  word,  the  mere  pictorial  alteration  is  unworthy 
of  much  consideration. 

But  tlie  question  arises :  Can  we,  with  our  present  alpha- 
bet, phoneticise  English  spelling?  Undoubtedly  we  can  not. 
Any  attempt  to  do  so  leads  to  anomalies  and  inconsistencies  ; 
almost  as  great  as  those  to  which  existing  orthography  is 
subject.  Even  the  common-sense  procedure  of  dropping  si- 
lent letters  only  destroys  pictorial  identities,  without  etfect- 
ing  a  phonetic  improvement  in  the  general  character  of  our 
writing. 

For  example,  the  I  in  could  might  be  dispensed  with :  but 
where  would  be  the  phonetic  consistency  of  writing  c  o  u  d  ^ 
for  could,  while  we  use  loud  for  loud  ?  Suppose  this  anom- 
aly to  be  obviated  by  changing  ou  to  ow  in  the  last  word — 
to  make  it  match  with  crowd;  where  would  be  the  consis- 
tency of  writing  ow  for  the  vowel  in  loud,  while  we  use 
the  same  letters  to  represent  the  different  vowel  in  own 
and  know'l  Every  single  alteration  necessitates  a  host  of 
others,  without  the  possibility  of  attaining  consistency  after 
all.  Our  alphabet  does  not  contain  letters  for  much  more 
than  one-half  of  our  sounds,  and  new  letters  are  indispen- 
sable to  success  in  any  attempts  to  phoneticise  our  gen- 
eral  spelling. 

For  whose  benefit  are  we  asked  to  amend  our  orthogra- 
phy? For  the  benefit  of  children,  and  of  foreign  learners 
of  our  language.*  But  experiments  have  abundantly  proved 
that  the  difficulties  of  initiation  can  be  overcome  by  special 
methods  of  instruction,  and  without  disturbance  of  spell- 
ing. In  the  phonetic  system  introduced  under  the  joint 
authorship  of  Ellis  and  Pitman,  some  forty  years  ago,  new 
letters   were   added  to  the  alphabet  and  spelling   was  made 


8 

accordant  with  sound.  For  initiatory  purposes,  the  method 
was  excellent,  as  it  enabled  learners  to  read  in  a  very  short 
space  of  time,  while  the  transition  to  reading  from  ordi- 
nary books  was  ejected  almost  unconsciously  by  the  learn- 
ers themselves.  In  another  phonetic  system,  from  which 
results  of  almost  equal  value  were  obtained,  new  letters 
were    altogether   dispensed    with.       This   method    was   intro- 

y  duced  by  myself,  over  thirty  years  ago,  in  a  little  book 
entitled  '•  Letters  and  Sounds."  The  principle  then  illus- 
trated  has   since   been   imitated   in    books    now  extensively 

">  used  in  schools,  under  the  name  of  the  Leigh  system.  The 
principle  was  to  print  every  letter  of  the  full  orthography 
in  order  to  accustom  the  eye  to  the  pictorial  aspect  of  words, 
but  to  show  silent  letters  in  a  different  type  from  that  of 
'  the  sounded  letters.  For  this  purpose,  silent  letters  were 
printed  in  small  "superior"  type  —  that  is,  type  standing 
above   the   general   line.       Thus : 

a*m,    le^f,    ri^^t,    ^no^,    du*. 

In  the  Leigh  books  the  silent  letters  are  shown  in  thin 
skeleton  type,  instead  of  "  superior "    letters. 

Each  of  these  three  methods  —  namely,  the  Pitman-Ellis 
extended  alphabet,  the  "  superior "  silent  letters,  and  the 
skeleton  silent  letters — has  been  found  to  work  well,  both 
with  children  and  adults.  Now,  if  such  partially  phonetic 
modes  of  initiation  have  been  proved  to  be  advantageous, 
surely  much  more,  advantageous  would  be  a  completely  pho- 
netic introduction  to  reading,  by  means  of  special  letters. 
When  learners  have  become  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the 
phonetic  characters  to  translate  them  readily  into  sound,  a 
key  is  possessed  to  the  pronunciation  of  words  printed  in 
the  ordinary  way,  and  such  words  will  then  be  learned 
from  their   pictorial   aspect   alone — as    wholes — and  without 


the    bewildering    and     unphonetic    preparatory    analysis    of 
a  b   ah,  e  b   eb,  &c. 

Another,  and  the  crowning,  advantage  of  a  completely 
phonetic  initiatory  sj^stem  is,  that  it  enables  learners  to  read 
the  words  of  any  language  with  equal  facility.  You  may 
put  a  French,  a  German,  an  Italian,  or  an  English  book 
into  the  hands  of  a  learner  initiated  in  only  one  language — 
say  English — and  he  will  read  the  other  languages  with 
full  intelligibility  to  native  speakers.  Nations  are  no  longer 
insulated,  as  in  the  days  preceding  steam  navigation,  rail- 
roads, telegraphs,  and  telephones;  and  facility  of  intercourse 
by  language  as  well  as  by  transit,  is  a  demand  of  the 
age,  which  calls  more  and  more  imperatively  for  some 
common   medium   of  Intel ligibilit}^ 

All    the    efforts    made    by    phoneticians   for  the   improve-  x 
nient  of  English  spelling  would  not  help  an  English  learner     \ 
to  a  more  easy  acquaintance  with  foreign  sounds.     Yet  this      ) 
should   be   a   chief  aim    in    any    proposed    alteration.  A 

change  which  does  not  assimilate  the  writing  of  our  own  \<^ 
language  to  that  of  other  languages,  or  which  does  not  fa- 
cilitate speech-reading  between  nations,  is  not  worth  striv-  J 
ing  for.  So  far  as  our  own  language  only  is  concerned, 
we  can  overcome  the  impediments  to  its  acquisition — as 
has  been  shown — by  a  partially  phonetic  method  of  teach- 
ing common  letters  in  our  primary  schools;  but  we  should 
remember  that  in  our  schools  we  are  training  not  only^ 
citizens  of  our  own  country,  but  citizens  of  the  world. 
Even  the  youngest  of  the  classes  will  ver}^  soon  be  dis- 
persed throughout  lands  where  alien  tongues  are  spoken; 
and  we  should,  therefore,  aim  at  making  speech-initiation 
phonetic  in  the  widest  sense.  Children  should,  from  the 
first,  be  trained  not  only  in  the  pronunciation  of  native 
sounds,  but  of  all  linguistic  sounds.  The  mouth  and  its 
adjustments  should  be  the  object-lesson;  and  it  would  be 
one   as   simple   as   delightful  to   the   youngest    pupil,   while, 


T 


10 

at  the  same  time,  it  would  be  fraught  with  high  impor- 
tance  for   the   future. 

The  number  of  Alphabets  that  a  student  of  Comparative 
Philology  has  to  master  is  an  immeasurable  drawback  to 
the  progress  of  the  science.  To  say  nothing  of  the  He- 
brew, the  Greek,  the  Russian,  the  Persian,  and  other  Eastern 
alphabets,  Roman  letters  alone  furnish  many  distinct  sys- 
tems. A  pamphlet  recently  issued  by  the  American  Bible 
Society  contains  specimen  verses  printed  in  243  languages. 
About  120  of  the  alphabets  illustrated  are  varieties  of  Ro- 
man letters;  yet  no  reader  of  any  Romanically  written 
language  can  pronounce  these  specimens — or  any  one  of 
them — merely  from  the  writing.  The  Missionary  Societies 
have  several  Romanic  arrangements;  the  American  Ethno- 
logical Bureau  has  its  own  separate  scheme;  English  liter- 
ature has  another;  French  literature  another;  and  there  is 
not  in  use  in  all  the  world  an  Alphabet  adapted  for  in- 
ternational  employment. 

The  system  which  I  shall  now  have  the  honor  of  ex- 
plaining constitutes  a  Science  of  Phonetics^ — an  indispen- 
sable helpmeet  to  the  Science  of  Philology.  The  phys- 
iological letters  are  not  intended  to  displace  any  other 
alphabet,  but  to  be  used  as  a  key  to  all  alphabets.  In 
this  way  they  have  already  been  found  of  unique  value 
to  students  of  languages.  Their  introduction  into  Primary 
schools  has  not  yet  opened  up  this  widest  field  of  useful- 
ness; but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  physiological 
alphabet  will  prove  the  readiest  means  of  enabling  chil- 
dren to  read  their  mother-tongue.  Our  literature  will, 
probably  for  a  long  period,  continue  to  wear  its  homespun 
garb  of  letters,  at  liome;  but  languages  should  be  provided 
with  a  traveling  phonetic  suit  to  wear  when  they  go  abroad. 
A  completely  different  alphabet  for  phonetic  purposes  has 
this  advantage,  that  it  raises  no  prejudice  on  the  part  of 
scholars,   while    changes    of   orthography,   or   new    uses    for 


11 

old  letters,  are  deprecated  by  many,  and  favoured  by  com- 
paratively few. 

The  number  of  sounds  discriminated  in  languages  is  now 
much  greater  than  it  was  when  alphabets  were  first  intro- 
duced. A  mere  indication  of  th6  position  of  the  principal 
vowel  in  a  word,  without  distinction  of  qualities  of  sound, 
even  now  suffices  for  intelligibility  in  the  writing  of  a  famil- 
iar tongue.  The  English  language  abounds  in  words  of 
the  same  primitive  meaning,  but  which  have  come  to  be 
applied  to  different  thoughts,  or  shades  of  thought.  In  this 
way,  words  etymologically  the  same  are  by  no  means  syn- 
onymous in  use.  Refinements  in  the  use  of  words  have 
led  to  refinements  of  phonetic  apprehension,  so  that  syl- 
lables which  were,  at  first,  sufficiently  discriminated  by  one 
of  the  primitive  vowels  A  E  I  O  U  would  be  no  longer  dis- 
tinguishable without  an  indication  of  intermediate  shades 
of  sound. 

In  treating  of  phonetic  elements,  all  associations  with 
letters  must  be  discarded.  We  have  to  deal  with  sounds 
alone.  But  we  must  have  some  means  of  representing  each 
element,  to  enable  us  to  identify  'the  sound  without  am- 
biguity. For  this  purpose  there  is  no  other  existing  means 
than  tbe  symbols  of  "Visible  Speech."  These  mathemat- 
ically phonetic  letters  are  so  related  to  each  other,  and 
to  the  organic  positions  which  produce  their  sounds,  that 
the  reader  sees  the  formation  of  every  sound  in  its  symbol. 
The  entire  alphabet — although  consisting  of  upwards  of  50 
consonants  and  36  vowels — requires  but  a  single  explana- 
tion to  enable  the  learner  to  name  every  character.  The 
name  describes  the  organic  position  depicted  in  the  sym- 
bol, and  the  assumption  of  the  described  position  by  the 
organs  of  speech  necessarily  produces  the  sound  of  the 
element.  Practical  facility,  of  course,  depends  on  individ- 
ual aptitude  and  application;  but  the  symbols  themselves 
become  teachers   after  the   student   has  been  once  initiated 


12 

in  their  names.  My  object  to-day  is  simply  to  enable  you 
to  take  this'  initiatory  step.  I  shall  present  in  one  view 
the  whole  amount  of  phonetic  variety,  in  connection,  not 
with  the  sounds,  but  with  the  names  of  the  symbols.  An 
idea  will  thus  be  obtained  of  the  various  phonetic  ele- 
ments  in   advance  of  the  ability   to   produce   the    sounds. 

Straight  Lines. — A  straight  line  is  the  symbol  of  Voice. 
y  The  line  depicts  the  linear  aperture  of  the  glottis  when 
in  the  act   of  forming  voice. 

Vowels. — Vowels,  being  formed  of  voice,  are  all  repre- 
/  sented  by  straight  lines.  Individual  vowels  are  differen- 
tiated by  the  position  of  an  auxiliary  symbol  attached  to 
the   vowel    line.      Thus : 


Bach 

Mixed 

Front 

High 

1 

I 

I 

Mid 

] 

\ 

C 

Low 

J 

I 

I 

The  position  of  the  auxiliary  symbol  on  the  left  is  called 
"  Back  " ;  on  the  right,  '•  Front " ;  and  on  ))oth  sides  of  the 
line,  "  Mixed."  The  position  of  the  auxiliary  at  the  top 
of  the  vowel  line  is  called  "  High  " ;  at  the  bottom,  "  Low '' ; 
and   at   both   ends,  "  Mid." 

The  names  of  the  above  nine  vowels — all  the  radical  va- 
rieties— are,  then : 

1  Higli  Back;         ]  Mid  Back;         j  Low  Back. 
I  High  Mixed;      \  Mid  Mixed;      X  Low  Mixed. 
I  Higli  Front;        [  Mid  Front;        \  Low  Front. 

Another  class  of  vowels,  slightly  different  in  (juality  from 
the    above    •*  Primary  '*  vowels,  are  distinguisluHl  by  an  open 


13 

hook,  instead  of  a  solid  point,  attached  in  the  same  po- 
sitions to  the  straight  line.  All  vowels  of  this  class  are 
called  "Wide."     Thus: 

1  High  Back  Wide ;  T  High  Mixed  Wide ;  f  High  Front  Wide. 

3  Mid  Back  Wide;     1  Mid  Mixed  Wide;     C  Mid  Front  Wide. 

J  Low  Back  Wide ;    x  Low  Mixed  Wide ;    x  Low  Front  Wide. 

The  only  remaining  vowel  symbol  is  a  bar  across  the 
straight  line.  The  name  of  this  symbol  is  "  Round."  The 
nine  Primary  vowels  and  the  nine  Wide  vowels,  as  above, 
are   all   repeated   with  this   barred   stem.       Thus : 

t  H.  B.  Round;         |  H.  M.  Round;         f  H.  F.  Round. 

}  Mid  B.  Round ;      ^  Mid  M.  Round ;      {  Mid  F.  Round. 

J  Low  B.  Round;     J  Low  M.  Round;      i  LowF.  Round. 

i  H.  B.Wide  Round;  T  H.  M.Wide  Round;  f  H.F.Wide  Round. 
}  M. B.Wide  Round;  ^  M. M.Wide  Round;  £M.F. Wide  Round. 
J  L.  B.  Wide  Round;  j;  L.  M.  Wide  Round;  x  L.  F.Wide  Round. 

Tlie  reader  should,  at  this  point,  exercise  himself  in 
naming  each  of  the  thirty-six  vowels,  as  they  are  collected 
in  the   following   Table : 


1 

T 

I 

3 

I 

c 

J 

X 

X 

i 

I 

f 

} 

I 

i 

J 

i 

I 

14 

Curves. — Carved  lines  depict  the  outline  of  the  tongue 
and  of  the  lips,  as  seen  when  the  face  is  turned  to  the 
right.     Thus : 

C  Outline  of  the  back  of  the  tongue. 

O         •'  "  top         '*  « 

(J         «'  «  point     "  *« 

D         "  "  lips. 

Consonants. — Consonants  being  formed  by  positions  of 
the  tongue  or  the  lips  are  denoted  by  the  curves  which  rep- 
resent the  part  of  the  mouth  employed  in  forming  the 
consonant.  The  above  four  curves  are  named,  as  consonant 
elements  : 

C  Back.         O  Top.         U  Point.         0   Lip. 

The  mechanical  varieties  of  consonants  are  differentiated 
by  auxiliary  symbols  joined  to  the  organic  curves.  Thus, 
small  curves  joined  to  the  ends  of  the  principal  curves  ex- 
hibit a  "mixture"  of  opposite  curves  with  the  one  in  sub 
ordination  to  the  other.       These  symbols  are  named : 

G  back  mixed;     q  top  mixed;     o  point  mixed;    o  lip  mixed. 

For  another  class  of  consonants,  the  curves  are  indented, 
or  "divided"  in  the  middle.  The  four  symbols  of  this 
class   are   named : 

c  back  divided;  co  top  divided;  co  point  divided;  3  lip  divided. 

"  Divided "  consonants  may  be  also  of  *'  mixed "  forma- 
tion.    The  four  compound  symbols  of  this  class  are  named: 


15 

^   back  mixed  divided ;  w  top  mixed  divided ; 

w  point  mixed  divided;  ^    lip  mixed  divided. 

For  another  class  of  consonants,  the  curve  is  closed  bj^ 
a  thin  line  drawn  across  its  ends,  to  symbolise  the  ''shut." 
position  of  the  organs.  The  four  letters  of  this  class 
are   named : 

a  back  shut;    q  top  shut;    o  point  shut;    o  lip  shut. 

In  tlie  next  and  last  of  the  organic  consonant  symbols 
the  curve  is  also  closed,  but  a  waving  line  (the  sign  of 
nasality)  is  added  to  the  line  of  closure.  The  names  of  the 
four   resulting   compound    symbols   are : 

Q  Back  nasal;     ^    Top  nasal;     ^   Point  nasal;    O  Lip  nasal. 

Twenty -four  consonant  symbols  have  now  been  evolved 
from  the  four  organic  curves,  c  o  o  3 .  The  reader, 
before  proceeding,  should  exercise  himself  in  naming  each 
of  the  twenty-four  symbols,  as  collected  in  the  following 
table  : 


c 

c 

C 

e 

a 

Q 

o 

Q 

G 

<n 

Q 

Q 

a 

U 

CO 

w 

O 

O 

0 

D 

3 

3 

o 

D 

The  twenty-four  consonants  exhibited  above  are  at  once 
converted  into  forty-eight,  by  the  addition  of  a  straight 
lin3 — the  sign   of   voice — drawn   within   eacli   of  the   curves. 


16 

The   names   of    the    resulting   symbols    simply  add  the  word 
"Voice"  after  the  names   already    explained.       Thus: 

e   back  voice ;  e    back  mixed  voice. 

s   back  divided  voice;         s    back  mixed  divided  voice. 

e  back  shut  voice;  e  back  nasal  voice. 

The    reader    should    now    exercise    himself   in    naming   all 
the  Voice  Consonants,  as  collected   in  the  following  table : 


e 

e 

8 

S 

Q 

e 

(I) 

CJ 

CO 

CQ 

CD 

05 

<i} 

w 

CO 

M 

0 

CD 

3 

s 

3 

3 

3 

B 

It  may  not  be  superfluous  to  point  out  that  this  entire 
scheme  of  physiological  letters  for  thirty-six  vowels  and 
forty-eight  consonants  is  made  up  from  only  nine  ele- 
mentary symbols;  namely,  the  two  vowel  stems  (  |  |  ),  to 
which  the  two  definers  (  *  ^  )  are  attached;  and  the  two 
consonant  stems  ( c  c ),  to  which  the  tliree  definers  ( 5  |  S  ) 
are  attached. 

Other  combinations  of  these  nine  radical  symbols  repre- 
sent a  series  of  "  Glides " ;  and  four  auxiliary  signs,  to  Ix 
afterwards  explained,  extend  the  total  number  of  possible 
elements  so  that  it  includes  the  minutest  shades  of  phonetic 
difference. 

A  few  remaining  symbols  in  the  Universal  Alphabet  will 
be  the  subject  of  future  explanation.  Meantime,  familiarity 
with  the  names  of  the  symbols  should  be  o])tained;  the  ad- 
vantage of  which  will  be  felt  in  the  subsecpient  translation 
of  the   names   into   phonetic   action,   or   sound. 


LECTURES  ON  PHONETICS. 

II. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  preceding  Lecture  speech- 
sounds  were  divided  into  the  three  classes : 

Voice  Sounds. 
Breath  Sounds. 
Mouth  Sounds. 

Vowels  are  all  voice  sounds  in  ordinary  speech;  and  they 
are  breath  sounds  in  whispered  speech.  Such  consonants  as 
m,  n,  I,  V,  z,  are  voice  sounds;  and  such  as  /,  s,  sh,  are 
breath  sounds.  Another  variety  of  voice  sounds — namely, 
Tones — includes  those  expressive  turns  of  the  voice  which 
add  to  language  a  meaning  beyond  that  contained  in  words. 

Mouth  sounds  constitute  a  class  which  has  not  hitherto 
been  discriminated.  Vowels  and  consonants  are  mouth 
sounds,  in  so  far  as  the  breath  or  voice  which  they  employ 
is  moulded  by  the  varying  cavities  of  the  mouth.  But  cer- 
tain elements  of  speech  are  produced  by  the  mouth  alone, 
and  without  the  emission  of  either  breath  or  voice.  These 
are  percussions  and  suctions.  The  percussive  effects  of  con- 
sonants are  heard  in  their  greatest  purity  in  the  sounds 
of  the  letters  p  t  Jc.  The  percussion  in  these  consonants 
may  be  accompanied  with  issuing  breath,  or  it  may  have 
any  amount  of  audibility  without  emission  from  the  chest. 
In  the  latter  case  the  percussion  is  derived  from  the  mouth 
cavities  and  the  pharynx — the  distensible  cavity  behind  the 
tongue.  This  is  a  point  of  great  practical  importance  both 
to  speakers  and  singers;  for  when  the  percussion  is  the 
result  merely  of  muscular  contraction  the  purity  of  the  voice 
is  not  affected  by  any  amount  of  percussive  energy. 

The  remaining  class  of   Breath  sounds — Inhalations — are 


18 

not  used  in  speech,  except  interject ionally :  as  /<  (with  in- 
spired breath)  for  pain;  wh<  for  surprise.  The  remaining 
class  of  mouth  sounds — Suctions — as  p<,  t<y  7c<,  are  common 
elements  of  speech  in  some  languages,  as  well  as  interjec- 
tional  sounds  among  all  people.  Something  more  will  be 
said  of  these  varieties  when  we  come  to  phoneticise  the 
consonant   symbols. 

In  the  remarks  on  Shakespearian  pronunciation,  in  last 
lecture,  the  effect  was  stated  to  be  very  like  that  of  exist- 
ing provincial  dialects.  This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to 
lowland  Scotch,  which  is  very  rich  in  sounds.  The  Scottish 
dialect  contains  the  German  guttural  consonants,  and  also 
the  French  and  German  vowels.  When  the  sounds  of  mod- 
ern English  are  added,  a  category  of  phonetic  elements  is 
made  up  equal  to  that  in  almost  all  the  European  languages. 
I  was  early  familiar  with  this  amount  of  phonetic  variety, 
and  the  problem  which  I  set  myself  to  solve  at  the  begin- 
ning of  my  professional  career  was  to  represent  these  Scotch 
and  English  sounds,  and  shades  of  difference  in  such  a  way 
that  a  Scotchman  should  read  English,  and  an  Englishman 
read  Scotch,  with  native  effect.  This  problem  took  a  wider 
scope  as  the  efforts  at  its  solution  progressed,  until,  ulti- 
mately, my  aim  included  the  whole  range  of  possible  pho- 
netic  elements. 

I  had  been  accumulating  for  some  time  a  considerable 
category  of  sounds,  including  the  accidental  utterances  of 
stammerers  and  other  defective  speakers.  These  were  all 
carefully  noted,  because  every  such  sound  might  prove  to 
be  an  element  in  some  unknown  tongue.  Key-words  were 
used,  when  practicable,  to  recal  the  various  sounds;  other- 
wise, the  name  of  the  individual  in  whom  the  sounds  had 
been  observed  had  to  do  temporary  duty  for  a  nomenclature. 
Sucli  was  the  first  form  of  the  physiological  alphabet. 

These  facts  are  recalled  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that, 
at   the   time   referred    to,   few  of   the   now  universally   ack- 


19 

nowleclged  relations  of  sounds  had  been  discovered.  The 
mind  becomes  fascinated  by  any  pursuit  that  leads  to  un- 
trodden paths  of  inquiry;  and  many  years  were  devoted 
to  the  self-imposed  labour  of  love,  in  investigating  and 
classifying  every  sound  which  could  be  discriminated.  Cer- 
tain elements  fell  one  by  one  into  place  in  the  growing 
general  scheme;  but  other  elements  were  refractory,  so  that 
there  were  gaps  in  the  scheme  waiting  for  occupation,  and 
fleeting  sounds  in  the  brain  waiting  for  a  resting-place  and 
long  finding   none. 

In  1849,  the  system  which  had  been  thus  gradually  elab- 
orated was  published  under  the  title  of  "A  New  Elucida- 
tion of  the  Principles  of  Speech  and.  Elocution."  This  work 
contained  a  partial  development  of  what  proved  ultimately 
to  be  an  important  and  pregnant  fact;  namely,  that  so-called 
"  labial "  vowels  are  the  result  of  a  double  organic  arrange- 
ment, each  of  them  being  the  same  in  formation  as  one  of 
the  lingual  vowels,  to  which  labialisation  is  simply  superadded. 
But  this  fact  was  not  seen  in  all  its  bearings  for  some  years 
subsequently.  For  example,  the  vowels  were  at  first  arranged 
in  three   classes,  named,  respectively: 

Lingual  Labio-Lingual  Labial 


but  the  truth  became  afterwards  manifest  that  such  a  cate- 
gory as  Labial  vowels  did  not  exist,  and  that  every  Labial 
vowel  was,  in  reality,  Labio-Lingual.  This  led  to  the  anal- 
ysis of  the  English  Labials — oo,  oh,  aw — and  to  the  dis- 
covery of  the  lingual  vowels  that  had  hitherto  lain  hidden 
behind  these  elements.  The  labio-lingual  theory  thus  con- 
tained the  germ  that  in  time  developed  into  the  classifica- 
tion on  which  the   physiological  system  of  letters  is  based. 


20 

The  Vowel  Scheme,  in  1849,  included  twenty-two  elements; 
the  "Visible  Speech"  Scheme,  published  in  1867,  contains 
thirty-six  vowels.  The  names  of  all  these  were  explained 
in  former  Lecture, 

In  the  first  work,  above  referred  to,  the  English  vowels 
were  separately  classified,  and  were  considered  as  thirteen 
in  number,  exclusive  of  diphthongs.  These  sounds  could 
not  be  unambiguously  denoted  by  letters;  and  therefore  they 
were  simply  arranged  serially  in  a  table  and  numbered 
from  1  to  13;  the  number  of  each  vowel  being  used  as  its 
name,  and  also  as  its  graphic  representative.      Thus: 

No.  1  \  ee(l)  (P)ooG)/  13  No 

&o.  &c. 


No.  7 

ah 


The  twenty-two  vowels  in  the  General  Scheme  were  also 
numbered  from  1  to  7  in  each  of  the  three  classes,  Lingualy 
Labial,  and  Lahio  -  Lingual  \  and  the  number  8  represented 
the  sound  [all]  in  which  each  class  terminated  when  the 
maximum  expansion  of  the  mouth  was  attained.  Thus, 
in  this  nomenclature,  ee  was  No.  1  Lingual;  oo  was  No.  1 
Labial;    and  li  [German]  was  No.  1  Lab 'o- Lingual. 

The  principle  of  numerical  notation  proved  to  be  a  happy 
expedient,  as  it  enabled  learners  to  master  the  sounds,  as 
well  as  the  theory  of  their  formation,  with  a  readiness  that 
no  arrangement  of  letters  could  have  accomplished.  But 
the  plan  was  only  a  makeshift,  and  too  cumbrous  for  gen- 
eral adoption — for  which,  indeed,  it  was  never  intended.  If 
the  assignment  of  ordinary  letters  to  represent  the  22 
vowels  in  the  General  Scheme,  or  the  18  vowels  in  tlie  Eng- 
lish Scheme,  was  impracticable,  wliat  could  have  been  done 


21 

with  our  five  vowel  letters,  a  e  i  o  ii,  to  represent  the  36 
vowels  afterwards  distinguished?  Or,  how  could  I  now 
hope  to  give  you  a  clear  perception  of  all  these  sounds, 
if   I  were  limited  to  Rom'an  letters  for  their  representation? 

Mr.  A.  J.  Ellis,  in  his  "Glossotype" — which  is  simply 
another  name  for  Visible  Speech — makes  use  of  the  ordinary 
alphabet  by  inverting  and  combining  the  letters,  to  denote 
the  physiological  elements;  but  the  symbols  being  arbitrary, 
a  hopeless  burden  is  imposed  on  tha  learner's  memory,  and 
constant  referenca  has  to  ba  made  to  key- words  to  ascer- 
tain the  intended  sounds.  Mr.  Ellis's  object  was  to  furnish 
a  means  of  exhibiting  the  Visible  Speech  phonetic  ele- 
ments by  letters  to  be  found  in  every  printing-office;  but 
the  very  idea  of  visible  speech — that  is,  letters  which  show, 
in  themselves,  the  organic  formation  of  the  denoted  sounds — 
is  lost  in  the  attempt.  The  convenience  of  readers,  in 
fact,  requires  a  translation  of  the  Glossotype  into  the 
physiological  letters  which  it  was  designed  to  supersede. 

The  alphabet  used  by  tha  Ethnological  Bureau,  in  Amer- 
ica, for  the  writing  of  Indian  languages,  consists  of  Ro- 
man letters  varied  by  diacritic  marks,  inversions,  and  com- 
binations; but  the  scheme  is  very  far  from  being  complete. 
Glossotype  might  ba  used  for  writing  any  language  or  dia- 
lect, but  the  Ethnological  alphabet  could  not  phoneticise 
with  accuracy  English  and  German  alone. 

As  this  is  one  of  the  most  recent  arrangements  of  Ro- 
man letters  for  extra-English  uses,  I  have  examined  it  with 
care,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  number  of  physiological  ele- 
ments included  in  the  scheme.  'l  find  that  the  total  number 
of  its  vowels  is  thirteen,  and  the  total  number  of  its  con- 
sonants twenty- six.  Of  course,  the  broadest  distinctions 
among  the  sounds  of  each  class  are  represented;  but  these 
only.  Incompleteness  is,  however,  acknowledged  by  the 
extraordinary  supplement  of  twenty-four  inverted  letters  to 
be    used    ad  libitum   "for  sounds  not  provided  for  in  the 


22 

alphabet."  Such  a  method  is,  manifestly,  incapable  of  in- 
ternational  use. 

True  phonetic  writing  should  be  translatable  into  sound 
with  such  definiteness  that  a  person  of  any  nationality 
could  read  from  it  his  own  or  any  other  tongue,  with 
native  effect.  For  such  writing,  ordinary  letters  cannot  be 
employed,  nor  could  they  be  adapted  for  it  by  any  ar- 
rangement or  modification.  When  we  speak  of  phonetic 
writing,  therefore,  we  must  always  clearly  distinguish  be- 
tween two  things;  namely,  the  writing  of  any  one  language 
and   the   writing   of  different   languages   internationally. 

Objections  are  constantly  urged  against  the  introduction 
of  new  letters,  or  of  altered  modes  of  spelling.  These  ob- 
jections are  intended  merely  to  deprecate  interference  with 
established  usage;  but  they  are  made  to  bear  directly 
against  the  principle  of  phonetic  writing,  and  in  this  re- 
spect they  are  absurd;  for  the  primitive  purpose  of  al- 
phabetic writing  was,  undoubtedly,  to  show  the  sounds  of 
words.  This  fundamental  fact  should,  once  for  all,  be 
acknowledged :  that,  while  we  may  have  phonetic  writing — 
na,tional  and  international — ^without  disturbing  orthography — 
that  is,  by  means  of  a  separate  alphabet — we  cannot  pos- 
sibly have  plionetic  writing  in  connection  with  establislied 
letters. 

The  descriptive  nomenclature  of  the  physiological  sym- 
bols for  vowels  and  consonants  was  explained  in  the  pre- 
ceding Lecture.  The  sounds  of  the  symbols  are  now  to 
be  illustrated.  We  shall  confine  our  attention,  first  to  vowel 
sounds. 

In  forming  any  vowel  the  voice  must  be  assumed  to  pass 
entirely  through  the  mouth,  and  not  partly  through  the 
nose.  A  slight  depression  of  the  top  of  the  soft  palate 
uncovers  the  end  of  the  nasal  passages,  and  allows  the 
voice  to  pass  both  nasally  and  orally.  This  is  the  mode 
of  formation  of  the  French  semi-nasal  elements,  en,  in,  on,  un. 


23 

American  speakers  often  give  a  nasal  quality  to  their 
vowels.  This  is  a  great  blemish  which  ought  to  have  been 
corrected  in  the  primary  school,  if  not  prevented  in  the 
nursery.  The  custom  depraves  the  ear;  so  that  the  dif- 
ference between  purely  oral  and  semi-nasal  sound  is  not 
distinguished  by  the  speakers  themselves.  To  acquire  the 
power  of  discrimination,  pronounce  the  vowel  ah  slowly 
and  observantly,  while  the  soft  palate  is  alternately  de- 
pressed and  elevated,  and  the  cause  of  nasality  will  be 
distinctly  felt,  and  seen,  if  the  mouth  be  opened  widely 
enough. 

The  American  tendency  to  nasalise  vowels  is  manifested 
chiefly  when  the  vowel  is  preceded  or  followed  by  a  nasal 
consonant  \m,  w,  or  ng'].  In  pronouncing  such  words  as 
am,  in,  me,  no,  the  soft  palate  has  to  close  and  open  the 
nasal  entrance  with  a  celerity  which  we  should  think  won- 
derful could  we  but  see  it.  Organically  it  is  much  easier 
to  say  am,  in,  me,  no,  with  nasalised  than  with  purely  oral 
vowels,  and  the  habit  of  nasal  utterance  being  formed,  the 
soft  palate  becomes  set  to  the  position  j  so  that  all  vowels 
are  more  or  less  tinged  with  nasality. 

The  precise  quality  of  any  individual  vowel  depends  on 
the  relative  size  of  the  cavities  at  the  front  and  at  the  back 
of  the  mouth.  When  the  whole  mouth-cavity  is  expanded 
to  the  utmost  possible  extent,  the  voice  [or  breath]  has  the 
quality  of  the  Low  Back  Wide  vowel  J  [aK].  When  the 
front  cavity  is  contracted  to  the  utmost  possible  degree  con- 
sistent with  a  vowel  aperture,  the  sound  has  the  quality 
of  the  High  Front  vowel  I  [ee].  This  latter — the  narrowest 
of  all  vowel  formations — is  the  natural  starting-point  of  any 
general  scale  of  vowels;  and  the  sound  of  ah — the  broadest 
vowel  formation — is  the  natural  termination  of  any  such 
scale. 

The  top  of  the  mouth  is  an  arch,  and  the  tongue  may 
take   an   equally   high   position   close    to    the    front    of    the 


24 

arch,  the  top  of  the  arch,  or  the  back  of  the  arch.  There 
are  thus  three  High  vowels.  III 

The  High  Front  vowel  I  [ee]  is  familiar  in  the  mouths 
of  all  speakers  of  English,  but  the  other  High  vowels  are 
not  so;  and  we  have  to  analyse  and  combine  other  sounds 
in  order  to  discover  the  quality  of  the  unfamiliar  elements. 
For  example,  the  High  Back  vowel  [1]  will  be  obtained  by 
analysing  the  sound  of  oo  (i).  The  tongue  is  already  in 
the  High  Back  position  when  we  pronounce  oo-,  but  the 
lingual  quality  is  not  distinguished  because  of  the  close 
position  of  the  lips.  In  other  words,  oo  is  High  Back 
sound,  plus  labial  modification.  Manifestly,  therefore,  if  we 
can  pronounce  oo,  minus  labial  modification,  we  shall  hear 
unveiled  the  simple  High  Back  quality.  Try  the  experi- 
ment. Sound  the  vowel  oo,  and  while  doing  so  separate 
the  lips— say  with  the  finger  and  thumb — and  every  mouth 
will  yield  the  same  residual  sound.  Some  little  practice 
may  be  needed  before  the  exact  position  can  be  struck 
spontaneously,  but  by  commencing  with  oo,  and  delabialis- 
ing  that  sound,  the  High  Back  vowel  will  always  be  at 
command. 

The  High  Mixed  vowel  [X]  formed  with  the  middle  of 
the  tongue  close  to  the  top  of  the  palatal  arch,  has  a  qual- 
ity intermediate  to  the  sounds  of  the  Back  and  Front  High 
vow6ls.  Just  as  by  blending  two  colours  a  third  is  ob- 
tained which  is  different  from  either,  so,  by  endeavouring 
to  pronounce  simultaneously  a  Back  and  a  Front  vowel,  the 
sound  of  the  corresponding  Mixed  formation  will  be  pro- 
duced.     Thus : 

l+/=T 

The  High  Mixed  vowel  is  heard  in  the  words  church, 
earnest,  sir,  &c.,  as  pronounced  in  America. 

From  these  governing  attitudes  of  the  tongue,  producing 
respectively  Back,  Front,  and   Mixed  qualities  of  sound,  we 


25 

can  understand  how  it  is  that  speakers  often  exhibit  a  pe- 
culiar organic  colouring  throughout  all  their  vowels.  The 
source  will  generally  be  traceable  to  some  habitual  position 
or  motion — some  set,  as  it  were— of  the  organs  of  speech. 
Thus  the  vowels  may  be  gutturally  modified  by  abnormal 
retraction  of  the  tongue,  or  by  enlarged  tonsils;  or  they 
may  be  labially  or  dentally  modified  by  interfering  posi- 
tions of  the  lips,  or  interlocking  of  the  teeth;  or  modified 
by  a  general  indefiniteness  of  quality,  arising  from  sluggish- 
ness of  the  tongue,  and  inability  to  shift  to  the  requisite 
Back  or  Front  positions.  The  latter  characteristic  is  strik- 
ingly exemplified  in  the  utterance  of  a  celebrated  English 
actor,  whose  artistic  and  scholarly  presentation  of  plays 
attracts  large  audiences  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  but 
whose  pronunciation  is  deformed  by  a  general  indefiniteness 
of  vowel  quality  throughout  all  his  syllables.  The  actor 
referred  to  is  Mr.  Henry  Irving,  from  whom  the  Mixed 
sounds  may  be  studied  in  all  their  little  variety,  but  who 
never,  by  any  chance,  pronounces  a  pure  Back  or  Front 
vowel — a   clear   e   or   a,  or   oo   or   o. 

From  a  knowledge  of  the  formation  of  the  three  Primary 
High  vowels,  the  sounds  of  all  the  thirty-six  vowels  may 
be  deduced  with  practicable  certainty.  Thus :  use  each  of 
the  high  positions  as  a  starting-point,  and,  while  sounding 
the  voice  continuously,  keep  the  shape  of  the  tongue  un- 
changed as  you  gradually  enlarge  the  cavity  between  the 
tongue  and  the  palate.  The  quality  of  the  sound  will 
change  with  every  movement ;  and,  if  you  could  give  fixity 
to  each  of  the  various  positions,  you  would  have  a  separ- 
ate vowel  for  every  position.  Our  scale  requires  the  dis- 
crimination of  only  three  positions  in  each  possible  series; 
namely,  the   "  high,"   the   "  mid,*'    and   the   "  low." 

Try  this  experimentally.  Start  with  I  (ee)  and  keep  the 
front  of  the  tongue  facing  the  front  of  the  palate,  while 
the    front    cavity    is    slowly    enlarged    by    descent    of    the 


26 

tongue.  A  slight  retraction  of  the  highest  point  of  the 
tongue  will  take  place  at  the  same  time.  Then,  maintain 
the  tongue  in  the  high,  mid,  and  low  positions  of  this  series, 
and  these  "fixed  configurations"  will  yield  the  sounds  of 
the   three   front  vowels: 

I  ee(l)        c   a(le)         i  e(ll) 

Now  take  the  high  back  position  (1)  as  a  starting-point, 
and  keep  the  back  of  the  tongue  facing  and  close  to  the 
soft  palate,  while  the  back  cavity  is  slowly  enlarged  by 
descent  of  the  tongue.  The  high,  mid,  and  low  positions 
of  this  series  will  yield  the  sounds  of  the  three  back  vowels : 


The  first  is  a  delabialised  oo;  the  second  a  delabialised  o; 
and  the   third   a   delabialised  aw. 

Start  now  with  the  high  mixed  position  (T)  and  grad- 
ually enlarge  the  mouth-cavity  by  descent  of  the  tongue 
while  its  shape  remains  unchanged.  Give  fixity  to  the 
configurations  at  the  high,  mid,  and  low  positions  in  this 
series,  and  the  sound  of  the  three  Mixed  vowels  will  be 
heard : 


The  first  is  the  American  sound  in  the  word  church-, 
the  second  the  German  sound  of  e  in  alte,  neue,  &c.;  and 
the  third  a  provincial  English  sound  heard  in  the  Cockney 
huckster's  pronunciation  of  the  word  penny  (half  way  be- 
tween penny  and  punny). 

The  sounds  of  the  Primary  Round  vowels  come  next 
to   be   illustrated.       The   bar   across  the   stem  of  tlie   sym- 


27 

bols  denotes  modification  of  the  sounds  by  contraction  of 
the  lips.  The  three  High  Round  vowels  have  each  a  nar- 
row labial  aperture,  like  that  of  oo-^  the  Low  have  a  broad 
labial  aperture,  like  that  of  aw\  and  the  Mid  have  an 
intermediate  aperture,  like  that  of  o  The  sounds  of  the 
Back  Round  vowels  are  familiar  to  all  speakers  of  Eng- 
lish: 

i  oo  3-0  }  aw 

These  sounds  will  now  be  used  with  advantage,  in  ac- 
quiring, by  simple  delabialisation,  as  before  explained,  the 
exact  positions   for  the    unfamiliar  primary   Back   vowels. 

The  Front  Round  vowels  are  all  foreign  sounds  to  a 
speaker  of  modern  English;  but  they  are  mastered  without 
any  difficulty  by  means  of  the  familiar  primary  Front 
vowels.  Thus :  pronounce  ee  (I)  with  the  lips  in  the  nar- 
row Round  position,  as  for  oo,  and  the  result  is  f  ;  pro- 
nounce a  (C)  with  the  lips  in  the  mid  Round  position,  as 
for  0,  and  the  result  is  i  ;  pronounce  e(ll)  (l)  with  the  lips 
in  the  broad  Round  position,  as  for  aw,  and  the  result 
is  \.  These  Front  Round  vowels  are  common  French  and 
German   sounds.      Thus : 

f  ii  Ger.;         {  u  Fr.;         \  6  Ger.,  eu  Fr. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  Rounding  effect  does 
not  involve  pursing  of  the  lips,  or  pushing  them  out  like 
a  funnel,  but  merely  contraction  of  the  labial  aperture. 
In  fact,  the  covering  of  the  mouth  with  the  hand  gives  a 
fair  imitation   of   labial   rounding. 

The  Mixed  Round  vowels  are  not  so  easily  mastered  by 
labialising  the  primary  sounds,  simply  because  the  latter 
are  themselves  unfamiliar  to  an  English  speaker;  but,  by 
endeavouring  to  blend    the    Back    and    the    Front    sounds, 


28 

the   Mixed   Round   vowels  will  be   produced  with   suflScient 
accuracy.       Thus : 

00  (1)  and  u  (f)  blended  yield  \ 
o  (})  and  u  Fr.  (f)     "  "       ^ 

aw  (j)  and  eu  i^)       "  '*       J 

The  first  of  these  Mixed  Round  vowels  (|)  is  a 
common  sound  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  heard  instead  of 
00  in  loolz,  &c;  it  is  also  the  Swedish  sound  of  u.  The 
second  (\)  is  heard  in  French,  in  the  word  homme\  and 
the  third  (i)  is  the  initial  element  in  the  Irish  dipthongal 
sound   of    i,  as   in    /  mind,  mind  your   eye,  &c. 

Command  over  the  whole  gamut  of  vowels  depends  on 
perfect  appreciation  of  the  radical  varieties,  and  chiefly  of 
the  threa  primary  High  vowels  (1  X  ^)>  from  which  the 
sounds  of  all  the  others — including  Round  and  Wide  va- 
rieties— are   deducible. 

In  connection  with  Shakespearian  pronunciation,  the  fact 
was  referred  to  that  the  Front  Round  vowel  (f)  had  en- 
tirely dropped  out  of  modern  English.  The  process  by 
which  the  sound  of  u  became  changed  into  that  of  u  may 
be  plausibly  explained.  Just  as  oo  (1)  and  o  (3-)  are  now 
analytically  pronounced  by  many  persons  as  li,  in  do,  &c.; 
]},  in  no,  don't,  &c. ;  so  the  sound  of  ii  (f )  we  may  suppose 
was  analysed  into  If,  I  J,  or  Ii;  in  one  of  which  forms  we 
still  hear  it  pronounced  in  America,  in  such  words  as  new, 
due,  tune,  few,  &c.  The  English  habit  of  contracting  e  (I) 
into  y  (ci))  changed  Ii  into  (i)i;  and  thus  we  naturally  ar- 
rive at  the  English  pronunciation  of  u;  the  steps  being 
tiine,  teoon,  tyoon. 

The  sounds  of  the  Wide  vowels  will  require  but  a 
comparatively  brief  explanation.  The  organic  positions  are 
practically  the  same  for  both  sets  of  vowels.  Wido  vowels 
may  be  considered  as  merely  loose  and  indefinite  formations 
of  the  primary   vowels.      Thus: 


29 

The  Wide  variety  of  j  is  J  ah.  A  backward  push  of 
the  tongue   while   sounding  aJi  will   change  J  to  j. 

The  wide  variet}'  of  I  is  f  i(ll(.  A  forward  push  of 
the  tongue   while   sounding  i   will   change   f  to   I. 

The  sound  of  [  is  e(ll);  and  its  Wide  variety  (x)  is  a  as 
in  an.  gas,  &c.  • 

The  sound  of  i  is  oo,  as  in  food\  and  its  Wide  vari- 
ety  (i)   is   00,  as   in  good,  or   u,  as   in  pull. 

The  sound  of  3-  is  6,  as  in  old\  and  its  Wide  variety 
(J)   is   o,  as   in   ore. 

The  sound  of  }  is  aw,  or  a  in  all\  and  its  Wide  va- 
riety  (j)   is   6,  as   in   on,  or,  &c. 

All  the  primary  vowels  resemble  consonants  in  the 
closeness  of  their  voice  channels,  as  compared  with  those 
of  the  Wide  vowels;  and  all  the  High  primary  vowels  are 
convertible  into  consonants  by  a  very  slight  organic  ap- 
pulse.  The  primary  vowels  are,  as  it  were,  strongly  col- 
oured by  the  organ  which  produces  them;  while  the  qual- 
ity of  the  Wide  vowels  seems  to  be  dulled,  or  diluted 
by  a  neutral  tint  of  sound. 

An  exact  knowledge  of  the  cause  of  this  neutral  tint 
is  not  essential  to  a  practical  discrimination  of  the 
sounds.  The  same  kind  of  difference  will  be  felt  in  every 
case  between  the  primary  and  the  Wide  varieties;  and  the 
difference  is  merely  a  sort  of  mdifference  in  the  pronun- 
ciation of  the  Wide,  and  of  precision  and  firmness  in  the 
pronunciation  of  the  primary  vowels.  An  expansion  of  the 
back  cavity  of  the  mouth  —  chiefly  by  means  of  the  soft 
palate — is  the  mechanical  cause  of  Wide  quality;  but  we 
may  gain,  perhaps,  a  clearer  idea  of  the  effect  from  another 
point   of  view. 

When  the  tongue  lies  at  rest,  neither  advanced  nor  con- 
tracted raised  nor  depressed,  and  the  whole  mouth-channel 
is  perfectly  relaxed,  an  utterance  of  voice  produces  what 
may  be   called  the   neutral  vowel.    This  is  the  Mid  Mixed 


80 

Wide  vowel  1,  heard  in  alone,  sofa,  general,  &c.  Previous 
illustrations  will  have  familiarised  the  reader  with  what  is 
meant  by  *'  blending  "  vowels.  Apply  this  process,  by  blend- 
ing the  neutral  sound  %  with  any  primary  vowel,  and  the 
result  will   be  the   corresponding   Wide  vowel.      Thus : 


1+1  =  1 

C  +  1  =  C 

1  +  1=1 


Practically,  therefore,  the  mastery  of  the  whole  gamut 
of  vowels  depends  on  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
formation  of  the  nine  primary  sounds.  All  the  others  are 
derived  from  these  in  such  a  manner  that  the  learuer  has 
only  to  know  the  relations  of  the  sounds  in  order  to  dis- 
criminate the  varieties.  And  the  mutual  relations  of  the 
sounds  being  all  expressed  in  the  symbols,  the  study  of 
these   will   teach   all  that   requires -to   be   known. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  Wide  vowels — fifteen  out  of 
eighteen — occur  in  our  own  language,  either  in  its  standard 
or  its  colloquial  pronunciation.  All  of  the  unrounded,  and 
six  of  the  nine  rounded  Wide  vowels  are  thus  heard.  In 
the  following  table  the  whole  scheme  of  thirty-six  vowels 
is  illustrated;  each  Wide  vowel  being  put  in  contrast  with 
its   corresponding  primary: 


31 


Round. 


Primary. 

I  eel  * 

C  ail 

I  end 

Y  church  (Am.) 

\  alte  (Ger.) 

I  zur  (Somerset) 

1  laodh  (Gaelic) 

3  up 

J  up  (Scotch) 


Wide.      \Primary. 


Wide. 


f  ill  f  iiber  (Ger)  f  une  (Fr 

C  air  i  du  (Fr)  £  school  (Scotch; 

X  and  I  pen  (Fr)  i  now  (Cockney) 

T  the  I  look(n.Irish)I  -ful* 

1  sofa  ^  homme(Fr)  ^  -ow* 

X  sir  J  I  (Irish)  J  -or*,  Chicago 

1  -tion*ji  pool  i  pull 

3  ask  |}  old  }  ore 

J  ah  I J  yawn  j  yon 


Many  of  these  sounds  are  extremely  delicate  in  their 
varieties;  but  the  characteristics  of  national,  dialectic,  and 
individual  utterance  depend  altogether  on  just  such  nice 
distinctions  as  these.  A  careful  reading  of  the  above  ex- 
amples should  satisfy  the  student  of  the  reality  of  shades 
of  difference  in  all  of  these  thirty-six  vowels.  No  one  can 
expect  to  become  perfect  in  phonetic  practice  without  a 
considerable  amount  of  exercise;  but  a  suflScient  knowl- 
edge of  phonetic  theory  may  be  readily  obtained  to  smooth 
the  way  for  any  after-application  of  the  subject  in  con- 
nection  with   linguistic   studies. 

The  sounds  of  the  Consonants  will  be  treated  of  in 
next   Lecture. 


*  Unaccented     terminations,    as   junction,    awful,    sorrow^ 
mirror. 


Exercise  on  Vowel  Words. 


U*  ee  (eye,  ScotcJi). 


C+ 


ae  (one,  Scotch). 


eh !  (interjection  of  surprise,  Sc). 
H  eh!  (interjection  of  reproach,  Sc). 
1+  ah !  (interjection,  Irish). 
Xi  a  '*  (drawling). 

]t  uh !  (interjection  of  horror). 
J+  ah! 

h  oo  [wool,   Scotch]. 
}i  O  !  oh  [Scotch]. 
}i  awe. 

[^"1"  A.  aye  [ever]  eh 
Cl  aye  [ever,  Scotch]. 
3^  I,  eye. 
J«  ay  [yes]. 
}i  J  O  !  oh,  owe. 
0i  U,  you,  ewe. 


*  The  holder  ♦  denotes  a  long  vowel. 
tThe  character  ^  is  y-glide. 
{The  character  i  is  w-glide. 


LECTURES  ON  PHONETICS. 
III. 

The  previous  lectures  will  have  made  sufficiently  obvi- 
ous the  indispensability  of  specific  phonetic  symbols  to 
convey  an  intelligible  explanation  of  the  varieties  and  rela- 
tions of  linguistic  sounds.  If  the  subject  could  have  been 
treated  in  connection  with  common  letters,  1  should  have 
preferred  to  limit  myself  to  the  use  of  these;  because  preju- 
dice is  apt  to  be  excited  by  anything  unusual,  however  val- 
uable it  may  be.  I  had  occasion  to  experience  this  fact 
when  I  was  appointed  Lecturer  on  Elocution  in  University 
College.  The  Secretary  of  the  College  was  commissioned 
to  express  to  me  the  desire  of  the  Board  of  Management 
that  I  would  not  give  prominence  in  my  teaching  to  my 
new  Phonetic  Scheme,  then  unpublished,  but  exciting  a  good 
deal  of  interest  by  its  experimental  applications.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  request  I  did  not  introduce  "  Visible  Speech  " 
in  my  lectures  at  University  College  during  the  years  that 
I  held  the  appointment.  The  Science  of  Phonetics — of  which 
Elocutiqpi  forms  but  one  department — could  not  have  been 
explained  without  the  proscribed  means.  The  very  idea 
of  a  physiological  alphabet  was  a  novelty — novelty  being 
in  itself  the  reverse  of  a  recommendation;  and,  as  the 
scheme  might  or  might  not  prove  a  credit  to  the  University, 
the  University  desired  to  having  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
My  appointed  subject  here  *  being  "  Phonetics  " — with  no 
embargo  on  its  illustration — I  am  able  to  make  use  of  the 
new  graphic  help  to  a  full  elucidation  of  the  subject. 

At  our  last  meeting,  the  sounds  of  all  the  vowel  sym- 
bols were  illustrated,  and  the  differences  of  vowel  quality — 

*  Johns  Hopkins  and  Oxford  Universities. 


84 

often  very  minute — were  shown  to  result  from  variations 
in  the  mouth,  as  governed  by  positions  of  the  tongue,  the 
lips,  and  the  soft  palate.  These  variations  are  only  su- 
perficially denoted  by  the  symbols.  For  example,  the  High 
Front  vowel  (I)  derives  its  name  from  the  visible  position 
of  the  front  of  the  tongue,  but  the  sound  depends  on  the 
relation  between  the  cavities  at  the  front  and  at  the  back 
of  the  mouth;  the  front  cavity  for  e  being  contracted  in 
the  greatest  degree,  while  the  cavity  behind  the  raised  part 
of  the  tongue  is,  at  the  same  time  expanded  to  its  max- 
imum size.  And  so  with  other  vowels :  the  front  and  the 
back  cavities  of  the  mouth  are  both  concerned  in  mould- 
ing the  sounds.  Into  these  particulars  the  symbols  do  not 
enter;  because  the  most  exact  representation  of  the  rela- 
tive dimensions  of  the  double  cavities  would  not  give  a 
greater  power  of  control  over  the  formation  of  the  sounds. 
If  our  object  were  to  imitate  vowels  by  mechanism,  as  in 
Faber's  speaking  machine,  or  as  in  Helmholtz's  arrangement 
of  resonance-boxes,  the  adjustment  of  the  double  cavities 
would  be  a  matter  of  primary  importance;  but  for  our  pur- 
pose of  oral  phonetics  a  recognition  of  the  visible  or- 
ganic  positions   is   alone   sufficient. 

The  channel  of  the  mouth,  and  also  the  formative  ap- 
erture for  every  vowel  must  be  free  from  interrfiption  or 
constriction;  otherwise  the  vowel  is  changed  into  a  conso- 
nant. This  is  the  characteristic  difference  between  vowels 
and  consonants.  All  consonants  have  an  obstruction  or 
compression  of  some  part  of  the  mouth-channel,  producing 
an  effect  of  friction,  sibilation,  buzzing,  or  iutermittence 
of  sound.  Many  of  the  vowels,  therefore,  give  rise  to  con- 
sonants when  their  aperture  is  slightly  compressed.  This 
fact  will  be  best  appreciated  by  illustration  and  experi- 
ment.      Thus : 

I.  Prolong  the  sound  of  the  Mid  Back  vowel  ]  (ii)  and, 
while   doing   so,  make   a   backward   pressure  on  the  tongue, 


85 

by  means  of  a  finger  applied  at  the  angle  of  the  neck  and 
chin,  and  the  vowel  will  be  changed  into  the  corresponding 
Back   Voice   consonant,  e . 

II.  Prolong  the  sound  of  the  High  Front  vowel  I  (e), 
and,  while  doing  so,  make  an  upward  pressure  on  the 
tongue,  by  means  of  a  finger  applied  under  the  chin,  and 
the  vowel  will  be  changed  into  the  Top  Voice  consonant,  m, 

III.  Prolong  the  sound  of  the  High  Back  Round  vowel  i 
(oo),  and,  while  doing  so,  make  a  slight  appulsive  action  on 
the  lower  lip,  by  a  gentle  pressure  of  a  finger,  and  the 
vowel  will  be  changed  into  the  Lip  Mixed  Voice  conso- 
nant, 3  (w). 

IV.  Prolong  the  sound  of  the  High  Front  Round  vowel  f 
(ii),  and  repeat  the  same  action  on  the  lip,  and  the  vowel 
will   be   changed  into  the   Lip   Voice   consonant,  a. 

The  last  two  experiments  reveal  the  difference  between 
the  English  w  and  the  sound  given  to  w  by  foreigners. 
The  difference  is  merely  in  the  vowel  position  of  the  tongue. 
The  foreign  w  is  the  same  as  the  Spanish  6  in  hahlar. 
Phonetically  it  is  very  like  v,  with  which  it  is  generally 
confounded ;  but  -v  is  a  uni-labial,  with  "  divided "  forma- 
tion;   while   w   is   a  bi-labial,  with  centre   aperture. 

Vowels,  as  we  have  seen,  are  throat-sounds  which  simply 
pass  through  the  varying  mouth-channels;  consonants  are 
sounds  formed  in  the  mouth,  as  the  result  of  friction,  com- 
pression, or   interception  of  the   breath. 

The  curves  which  denote  consonants  show  the  part  of 
the  mouth  at  which  the  compressive  or  other  effect  takes 
place.       Thus : 

Simple  Curves. 

I,  The  Back  curve  denotes  that  the  breath-channel  is 
contracted  between  the  back  of  the  tongue  and  the  cor- 
responding part  of  the  palate— namely,  the  soft  palate. 
Thus,  c,  as  heard  in  nach  (German)  and  laigh  [low] 
(Scotch). 


86 

n.  The  Top  curve  shows  that  the  same  effect  is  pro- 
duced between  the  middle  or  top  of  the  tongue  and  the 
corresponding  part  of  the  palate — namely,  the  hard  palate, 
or  roof  of  the  mouth.  Thus,  o,  as  heard  in  hue,  and  in 
ich,  (German). 

UI.  The  Point  curve  shows  that  the  same  effect  is  pro- 
duced between  the  tip  of  the  tongue  and  the  correspond- 
ing part  of  the  palate — namely,  the  gum,  or  the  front  edge 
of  the  palatal  arch.  Thus,  o,  as  heard  in  (theat)re  (French) 
and  in  (th)ree  [=  ol]  (Scotch). 

IV.  The  Lip  curve  denotes  that  the  compressive  effect 
takes  place  between  the  edges  of  the  approximated  lips. 
Thus,  D ,  the  sound  of   blowing  to  cool. 

Mixed  Curves. 

The  Mixed  curves  denote  that  the  effects  of  the  sim- 
ple curves  are  modified  by  means  of  the  parts  of  the  mouth 
symbolised   in   the   subordinate   curves. 

I.  The  Back  Mixed  curve  shows  that  the  effect  of  the 
Back  curve  is  modified  by  the  lips.  Thus,  c,  as  heard  in 
leuch  [laughed]  (Scotch.)  . 

Putting  in  contrast  the  sounds  of  the  Back  and  Back 
Mixed  curves,  the  effect  of  the  Mixed  symbol  will  be 
clearly  apprehended.  In  passing  from  one  to  the  other  of 
these  sounds,  the  tongue  remains  motionless,  while  only 
the   lips   change   their   position.      Thus :     c  G     c  G     c  G . 

II.  The  Lip  Mixed  curve  shows  that  the  effect  of 
blowing  between  the  lips  is  modified  by  retraction  of  the 
tongue  towards  the  Back  position,  thus  creating  a  large 
cavity  within  the  mouth,  and  so  changing  the  sharp  blowing 
sound  into  a  hollow  whistling  sound.       Thus,  o  wh. 

In  passing  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  sounds  denoted 
by  the  Lip  and  the  Lip  Mixed  curves,  the  lips  remain 
motionless,  while  only  the  tongue  changes  its  position. 
Thus,   DO    DO    o  o . 


37 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  organic  arrangements 
for  the  two  elements,  c  and  d  are  the  same,  but  with  this 
difference,  that  the  consonant  constriction  takes  place  at 
the  point  indicated  by  the  primary  curve;  while  the  sound 
receives  a  sort  of  vowel  modification  from  the  organ  de« 
noted  by   the   subordinate   curves. 

The  Top  Mixed  curve  denotes  that  the  effect  of  the  simple 
Top  curve  is  modified  by  the  simultaneous  elevation  of 
the  fore-part  of  the  tongue.  The  fractional  contraction  re- 
mains,  as  nearly  as  possible,  at  o,  while  the  raised  fore- 
part of  the  tongue  gives  a  new  direction  to  the  breath, 
and   changes  the   sound  to   q   sh. 

IV.  The  Point  Mixed  curve  denotes  frictional  contraction 
at  the  point  of  the  tongue,  with  simultaneous  elevation  of 
the  middle  of  the  "tongue.  The  effect  is  to  flatten  the 
upper  surface  of  the  point  of  the  tongue  and  to  change 
the  dull  sibilation  of  o  into  the  sharp  hissing  sound  of  u  s. 

Before  proceeding  further,  let  the  reader  revise  the  sounds 
of  the  eight  consonant  symbols  which  have  now  been 
analysed : 

c  ch  in  nach  (German);  gh  in  laigh  (Scotch). 

o  h  in  hue',  ch  in  ich  (German). 

u  r  in  etre  (French);  thr  in  three  (Scotch). 

0  blowing  to  cool. 

G  ch  in  leiich  (Scotch). 

n  sh. 

OS.  . 

o   wh. 

By  the  simple  substitution  of  voice  for  vocalised  breath 
in  forming  these  eight  consonants,  the  number  of  ele- 
ments of  this  class  is  at  once  doubled.  The  organic 
actions  of   the    following    Voice   consonants   are  in  all    re- 


38 

spects  the  same  as  those  of  their  non-vocal  correspondents 
above    exemplified •: 

e  g  in  tage  (German);  r  (guttural). 

(D  y. 

ci)  r  (before  a  vowel). 

3  6  in  hablar  (Spanish);  w  in  wie  (German). 

e  g  (German)  labialised. 

CT!  j  (French) ;  2^.       , 

CiJ    2. 
S    W. 

Divided  Cxtrves. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  advance  to  the  next  variety 
of  consonants — in  which  the  formative  aperture  is  Divided. 
The  common  characteristic  of  these  elements  is  that  the 
breath  issues  laterally,  and  not  through  a  central  aperture; 
and  that  more  or  less  of  an  x)rganic  flap  is  heard  as  the 
organs  are  separated.  The  formative  aperture  may  be  on 
both  sides  of  the  central  obstruction,  or  only  on  one  side, 
without  affecting  the  character  of  the  consonant,  which  de- 
pends on  the  faint  disjunctive  flap  attending  the  comple- 
tion of  the  consonant  action.  Of  the  sixteen  Divided 
consonants,  the   following   six   are   heard  in  English : 


CJ  I  in 

w  th  in  thin. 

CO  I  in  ells. 

w  th  (dh)  in  tlien. 

3   V. 

Some  critics  of  this  system  have  disputed  the  accuracy 
of  the  classification  in  respect  to  the  sound  of  I,  because 
of  the  pure  vocality  of  that  element,  as  compared  with  the 
fricative   vocality    of    v   and   dh.      The   sole   cause   of    the 


39 

diflference  is  that,  from  the  pointed  position  of  the  tongue, 
the  side  apertures  of  I  are  large,  so  that  the  voice  passes 
through  them  without  friction;  while  the  apertures  for  v 
and  dh  are  normally  very  narrow — or  mere  chinks.  But 
the  apertures  of  v  and  dli  maj^  be  widened,  and  their 
sounds  will  be  then  non-fric'tional,  and  of  a  vowel-like 
purity,  resembling  l\  and  the  apertures  of  I  may  be  nar- 
rowed by  convexity  of  the  middle  of  the  tongue  {yi),  and 
then  a  frictional  or  buzzing  quality,  resembling  that  of  v 
or  dh  is  unmistakably  heard  in  I.  The  common  "  divided " 
character  of  the  formations,  I,  th,  f,  and  v,  is  one  of  the 
discoveries  of  •'  Visible  Speech " ;  and  the  reality  of  the 
relation  cannot  be  called  in  question  by  any  capable  and 
unprejudiced  phonetician. 

Other  consonants,  as  well  as  those  of  "  divided "  forma- 
tion, may  have  their  apertures  similarly  varied.  Thus  cij  {zh) 
yields  a  non-fricative  sound,  resembling  the  consonant  y. 
This  widened  zh — which  would  be  written  cov — is,  by  the 
way,  the  element  heard  in  the  ordinary  American  pronun- 
ciation of  the   consonant   r. 

The  sounds  of  the  whole  series  of  Divided  consonants 
may  now  be   illustrated : 


c  hiss  of  water-fowl. 
CO  defective  form  of  s. 
CO  I  in  else. 

3/ 

s  I  in  laodh  [Gaelic]. 
00  gl  Italian;  I  Irish. 
CO  L 
3   V. 


e  the  same  labialised. 

w  ??  [Welsh]. 

w  th  in  thin. 

3  /  [gutturalised]. 

s  the  same  labialised. 

pj  I  [Zulu] ;  fricative  I. 

w  dh  [th  in  then], 

3  V  gutturalised. 


40 

Shut  Curves. 

The  next  variety  of  consonants  are  shut  formations, 
which  have  no  outlet  for  breath  or  voice.  The  non  vocal 
elements  of  this  class  are  only  audible  in  the  percussion 
which  attends  the  separation  of  the  organs.  When  an 
emission  of  breath  accompanies  the  separation,  there  is  a 
slight  hiatus  between  the  consonant  and  a  succeeding  vowel ; 
as  in  the  Irish  pronunciation  of  such  words  as  come,  time, 
pen.  In  ordinary  utterance,  the  percussion  is  due  merely 
to  pressure  on  the  breath  within  the  mouth,  and  there  is 
no  emission  from  the  throat.  Let  the  reader  test  his  power 
of  producing  the  English  Shut  consonants  h,  t,  p,  with  vig- 
orous  percussion,  both  with  and   without   emission.      Thus: 

With:   a>.  d>,  d>;     Without:    o>,  d>,  d>. 

The  non-emissive  formation  possesses  important  advantages 
to  speakers  and  singers.  It  leaves  unimpaired  the  clearness 
of  the  voice;  it  tends  to  distinctness  of  articulation;  and 
it  is  unfatiguing  in  prolonged  or  energetic  effort. 

The  means  by  which  these  modes  of  pronunciation  are 
graphically  distinguished  may  now  be  explained.  An  arrow- 
head pointing  to  the  right  is  the  symbol  of  expiration;  and 
a  dot  denotes  the  stoppage  of  the  breath.  The  compound 
symbol  >,  consequently,  means  an  effort  of  expiration  but 
without  emission.  The  dot  alone  after  p,  t,  or  k  would 
denote  the  stoppage  of  the  breath  by  means  of  the  organ 
symbolised — in  other  words,  the  first  half  of  the  conso- 
nant, without  organic  separation.  Thus:  d*  d*  a-  The 
consonant  itself,  without  additional  symbol,  is  held  to  im- 
ply organic  separation,  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  element. 

The  arrow-head  symbol  is  also  used  in  the  converse  di- 
rection. When  turned  to  the  left  (<)  it  denotes  inspira- 
tion. The  compound  symbol  <,  consequently  means  an  ef- 
fort of  inspiration,  but  without  inhalation — in  other  words, 


41 

sitction.      The    latter    is    the    mode    in  which  the   peculiar 
clicks   or   clucks   of  some   languages   are   formed  \    such   as : 

Q<      Qy<5      D<      o< 

One  would  scarcely  expect  that  such  sounds  as  these 
could  combine  without  hiatus  with  the  ordinary  elements 
of  speech;  yet  they  do  so,  with  perfect  fluency;  being 
merely  mouth  sounds,  independent  of  any  emission  either 
of   voice   or   breath. 

The  sounds   of  the   four   non-vocal   Shut   consonants  are : 

a     k, 

Q     a  sound  between  Jc  and  t. 

0     t 

op. 

We  come  now  to  the  sounds  of  the  Shut  Voice  consonants  : 

Q  g  (hard). 

c  a  sound  between  g  and  d. 

Q  d. 

0  b. 

The  formation  of  these  consonants  is  in  all  respects  the 
same  as  that  of  the  preceding  set  of  elements :  the  sole 
ditference  being  that  the  material  acted  on  is  voice,  instead 
of  unvocalised  breath.  When  the  mouth  is  in  any  shut 
position,  the  voice  can  only  be  continued  until  the  cavities 
behind  the  point  of  closure  are  full.  This  is  a  mere 
instant.  The  vocal  murmur  in  Shut  consonants  is  therefore 
incapable   of   prolongation. 

The  separation  of  the  organs  to  complete  the  conso- 
nant is  attended  with  the  same  percussion  as  in  the  non- 
vocal  elements;  and  the  percussion  may  be  either  emissive 
or  non-emissive — the  latter  being,  as  before  explained,  the 
preferable   mode. 


42 

The  agent  of  percussion,  in  these  as  in  all  consonants, 
is  not  the  chest,  but  the  cavity  between  the  windpipe 
and  the  articulating  organ.  We  often  see  the  lips  and 
cheeks  inflated  in  the  pronunciation  of  p  and  6;  but 
this  is  a  mechanical  fault.  The  whole  force  of  ar- 
ticulative  compression  should  be  in  the  pharynx.  This 
cavity  has  been  already  described  as  communicating 
below  with  the  windpipe,  in  front  with  the  mouth,  and 
above,  with  the  nose.  The  soft  palate,  which  hangs  like  a 
curtain  at  the  back  of  the  mouth,  is'  the  nasal  valve; 
when  it  is  lifted  it  covers  the  entrance  to  the  nasal  pas- 
sages; when  it  is  pendent,  it  uncovers  the  entrance.  When 
only  the  top  of  the  soft  palate  is  depressed,  the  voice,  or 
breath,  issues  partly  through  the  nose  and  partly  through 
the  mouth — as  in  forming  nasalised  vowels.  When  the 
mouth-passage  is  shut — as  in  forming  the  English  nasal 
consonants — the  breath  or  voice  is  emitted  through  the  nose 
alone.  The  action  of  the  soft  palate  is,  thus,  the  sole  cause 
of  the  ditference — great  though  it  is  phonetically — between 
the  Shut  and  the  Nasal  Consonants.  These  latter  elements 
come   now   to   be   explained : 

Nasal  Consonants. 

Any  consonant  may  be  nasalised,  but  only  Shut  forma- 
tions can  be  altogether  nasal.  The  series  of  nasal  con- 
sonants  includes : 

Non-Vocal.       Vocal. 

o  0)     a  sound  between  ng  and  n 

D  dm 


43 

The  non-vocal  nasal  consonants  have  not,  generally,  been 
recognised  as  elements  of  speech  ;  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  they  are  of  very  frequent  occurrence  in  the  conversa- 
tional pronunciation  of  our  own  language.  In  themselves, 
they  are  scarcely  audible,  being  destitute  either  of  friction 
or  percussion;  but  they  have  an  unmistakable  e£fect  in 
words— producing  a  sort  of  hiatus  between  a  vowel  and  a 
consonant;    as  in: 

se^'se,  ny^'ph,  i°k,  tha^k,  se^t,  wa^t,  la^'p,  ro""p. 

The  pronunciation  of  vocal  nasals  in  such  words — except 
in  oratorical  utterance — is  peculiarly  un-English.  Let  the 
reader  pronouce  the  words  in  both  ways,  and  he  will  ob- 
serve the  extreme  brevity  of  the  customary  English  syl- 
lables, as  compared  with  the  foreign  effect  due  to  the 
long  and   sonorous   vocal   Nasals. 

The  same  cause  that  makes  the  non-vocal  Nasals  so  faint 
in  sound  gives  the  vocal  Nasal  consonants  a  fulness  and 
purity  of  audibility  which  renders  them  the  most  beautiful 
and  expressive  elements  in  speech.  The  voice  passes  with- 
out friction  through  the  pharynx  and  the  nose,  and  is  as 
clearly  resonant  as  in  a  vowel.  For  this  reason,  these 
elements  have  been  called  "  semi-vowels  " — a  term,  however, 
of  no  practical  utility.  L  is  equally  entitled  to  be  sim- 
ilarly classed;  but  not  the  consonant  r,  although  it  has 
been  commonly  included  by  grammarians.  K,  in  certain 
positions,  has  a  true  semi- vowel  sound;  but  then  it  is  not 
a  consonant.  It  is  a  ''  Glide."  X,  m,  n,  and  ng  never 
cease   to   be  consonants   in   any   position. 

In  finishing  the  Nasal  consonants,  when  final  in  a  word, 
a  faint  organic  flap  should  be  heard,  like  that  which  at- 
tends  the   completion   of    a   "  divided "   consonant. 

In  passing  from  any  Nasal  to  its  corresponding  Shut 
consonant,  or   mce   versa,  there  is    no    change    in    the    po- 


44 

sition  of  the  lips  or  the  tongue.  Thus,  such  combinatious 
as  the  following  are  all  pronounced  without  separating 
the  articulating   organs: 

mp  in  ample  mh  in  amber 

pm,  in  topmast  bm  in  cabman 

nt  in  enter  nd  in  under 

tn  in  witness  dn  in  m^idnight 

ngh  in  anchor  ngg  in  anger 

These  combinations,  on  account  of  their  facility  in  utter- 
ance, are   among   the   commonest   in   all   languages. 

The  attention  of  the  reader  may  be  directed  to  the 
uniformity  of  agreement  and  of  difference  among  the  sym- 
bols for  the  Shut  and  Nasal  consonants,  as  below  collected: 

a  Q  G  65 

Q  CD  Q  flO 

o        0        o         ce 

D  0  D  9 

All  the  consonant  actions  of  the  tongue  and  the  lips  have 
now  been  gone  over.  The  resulting  elementary  sounds — 
48  in  number — are  all  represented  by  only  six  radically 
different  forms  of  letters;  namely,  C  C  C  S  Q  O- 
There  is  one  other  source  of  consonantal  effect — namely, 
the   Throat — the.  symbols  of    which  remain  to  be  explained. 

The  first  Throat-symbol  is  O,  which  denotes  a  perfectly 
open  condition  of  the  throat-passage,  in  which  ingoing  air 
or  outgoing  breath  receives  no  frictional  effect.  The  sym- 
bol is  equivalent  to  the  letter  A,  and  signifies  a  silent 
emission  of  breath.  The  noiseless  act  of  respiration  may, 
therefore,  be  as  distinctly  written  as  any  phonetic  element 
of    speech.       Thus: 

o<   o,         o<   o,         o<   o. 


45 

The  next  Throat- symbol  is  0,  which  denotes  a  narrowed 
condition  of  the  throat-passage,  producing  the  frictional 
effect  called  Whisper.  This  effect  may  be  vocalised,  and 
the  result  is  Hoarseness.  The  symbol  for  the  latter  quality  is 
the  same  as  the  preceding,  with  voice-line  added.     Thus,  Q. 

The  closure  of  the  throat,  by  contact  of  the  edges  of  the 
glottis — as  at  the  commencement  of  a  cough — is  denoted 
by  the  symbol  X-  The  closure  may  be  followed  by  expira- 
tion, as  \>,  XO)  X^j  expressive  of  effort  or  pain ;  or  by 
inspiration,  as  X<j  ^  sound  of  sobbing;  or  the  closure  may 
be  unbroken,  as  X*  •  Thus,  a  cough,  a  sigh,  a  sob,  a  yawn, 
or  a   sneeze  may  be  written  as  clearly  as  a  spoken   word. 

This  throat-"  catch "  (X)  is  a  common  element  of  speech 
in  some  languages.  Even  in  one  of  the  dialects  of  Eng- 
lish— that  of  Benfrewshire  in  Scotland — X  is  regularly  used 
instead  of  t,  between  vowels;  as  in  butter,  water,  pro- 
nounced buXer,  waXer: — "PeXer  gaed  doon  the  waXer  to 
buy  a  keg  o'   buXer." 

The  symbol  ^  represents  the  pendulous  soft  palate,  and 
is  hence  the  sign  of  nasal  quality.  This  symbol  has  been 
already  introduced  as  a  part  of  the  letters  for  Nasal  con- 
sonants ;  but  it  is  also  used  separately,  to  show  the  na- 
salising of  any  element  Thus,  a  nasalised  y  ((i)^)  is  a 
common  Polish  sound;  and  nasalised  vowels  are  very  fre- 
quently used  in  French — to  say  nothing  of  their  New 
England  employment. 

The  compound  symbol  J  (formed  by  the  union  of  0 
and  9  is  used  to  denote  nasality  with  guttural  compres- 
sion, as  often  heard  in  the  pronunciation  of  the  French 
semi-nasal    sounds. 

The  symbol  \  denotes  trilling,  or  vibration  of  any  organ. 
Thus:  vibration  of  the  point  of  the  tongue  {{^\)  yields  the 
rough  Scotch  or  Spanish  r;  vibration  at  the  back  of  the 
mouth — affecting  the  uvula — ( G^)  yields  the  burring  r  of 
Northumberland  and   Provence ;    vibration  of  the  lips  (3  ^) 


46 

yields  a  sound  common  among  cow-herds,  as  a  call  to  the 
cattle;  and  vibration  in  the  throat — affecting  the  epi-glot- 
tis — (9^)    yields    the   sound   of    growhng. 

The  means  of  writing  all  the  normal  vowels  and  con- 
sonants of  languages  have  now  been  described.  Four 
auxiliary  symbols  are  also  provided,  to  indicate  slight  or- 
ganic differences  from  the  normal  formation  of  any  ele- 
ment. Thus,  the  sign  a  ("  closer ")  denotes  that  the  po- 
sition for  the  element  to  which  it  applies  is  closer,  than 
the  normal  formation ;  and  the  sign  v  ("  opener ")  denotes 
that  the  position  is  more  open.  The  sign  <  ("Inner")  de- 
notes that  the  position  is  somewhat  farther  back ;  and 
>  ("  Outer ".)  that  it  is  farther  forward  than  in  normal  pro- 
nunciation. These  symbols  are  seldom  necessary  in  the 
writing  of  languages.  Their  chief  value  is  a  scientific  one, 
for   the   noting   of    curiosities   of    sound. 

For  example,  the  Back  consonants  may  be  formed  at  any 
point  on  the  soft  palate.  The  symbols,  c  e  a  q,  &c.,  are 
understood  to  mean  a  normal  or  middle  position ;  and  the 
symbols  c  <  a*;,  &c.,  would  be  used  to  show  a  deeper  or 
"  inner "  formation ;  and  c>  Q>  to  denote  a  higher  or 
"  outer "   formation   of   the   same   elements. 

A  characteristic  formation  of  k  and  g  in  such  words 
as  card,  kind,  guard,  guide,  girl  would  be  represented  by 
the  "  outer "  sign  after  the  consonant.  The  intended  ef- 
fect is  exaggerated  when  e  or  y  is  written.  The  position 
of  the  tongue  for  a  Back  consonant  is  usually  assimilated 
to  its  position  for  any  associated  vowel.  K  and  g,  there- 
fore, before  a  low  vowel  would  naturally  be  struck  from  a 
low  position  on  the  palate ;  but  in  the  instances  referred 
to  they  are  struck  from  a  high  position,  as  if  they  were 
to  be  followed   by   an  e  or  a  y. 


47 

The  following  symbols  are  also  made  use  of  in  the  writ- 
ing of    peculiar  sounds  and  phrases: 

c  Inversion  of  tongue  "  to  back." 

o  Protrusion  of  the  tongue  "  to  lip." 

5  Hiatus. 

o  Whistle. 

o  or  -f-     Sign  of  connection. 

'  Accent. 

,  Emphasis. 

<o    Vocalised  whistle. 

There  is  still  a  small  class  of  Linguistic  elements,  called 
"  GHdes,"  to  be  explained.  These  will  be  included  in 
the  next   Lecture. 


48 


Exercise  on  Interjectional  Consonant  Sounds. 
OO  annoyance 
0<  OOf  sigh 


0^  growl 

OO  \0  surprise 

Q  listening 

Q\  silencing- 

Oi  disapprobation 

3<  acute  pain 

D  dissatisfaction 

Da*  clearing  nostrils 

D<  snuffing 

DO  ) 

V  contempt 


Q^^  I  subdued 
Q       f  chuckle 


XaOi     ^  cough 

XAOiX-    )         " 

ODhQ  sneeze 

Ox+0  effort 

xO<  sob 

Q<  kiss 

D<  vexation 

Qi<  incitement  to   a  horse 


LECTURES  ON  PHONETICS. 
IV. 

Vowel  sounds  are  all  syllabic.  The  number  of  vowels  in 
a  word  is,  therefore,  the  number  of  syllables  the  word 
contains.  But  in  such  words  as  huy^  hoy,  now,  we  are 
conscious  of  double  sounds  in  single  syllables.  The  sec- 
ond sound  after  the  consonant  is  not  a  vowel,  because  it 
is  non-syllabic ;  and  it  is  not  a  consonant,  because  it  has 
no  fricative  or  interruptive  quality.  We  are  forced,  there- 
fore, to  recognise  a  distinct  class  of  elements,  intermediate 
to  vowels  and  consonants.  These  are  called  Glides.  A 
slight  prolongation  of  a  Glide  converts  it  into  a  Vowel ; 
a   slight   compression   converts   it  into   a   Consonant. 

The  English  name-sound  of  the  letter  I  includes  two 
elements — the  first,  a  vowel,  the  second,  a  glide — and  this 
double  sound  is  monosyllabic,  as  in  knife.  In  contrast  to 
this,  the  French  compound  ai  as  in  naif,  consists  of  the 
very  same  sounds,  but  is  dis-syllabic,  because  both  of  its 
elements   are  vowels. 

In  such  words  as  buyer,  boyish,  howe'er,  .the  y  and  w 
are  glides.  Contrast  the  words  coyer  and  lawyer,  however 
and  aware,  and  the  soft  indefiniteness  of  the  glides,  as 
distinguished  from  the  comparative  firmness  of  the  w  and 
y  consonants   will   be   readily   perceived.      Thus: 

coy-er  aj^-x^  law-yer   coji-mx'^ 

how-e'er  03i-Ci  a- ware  3-9  Ci! 

We  see,  then,  how  Vowels  or  Glides  become  Consonants, 
by  compression  of  their  formative  aperture.  The  converse 
is  equally  true — namely,  that  consonants  of  centre-aperture 
formation  become  vowels  by  expansion  of  their  formative 
aperture.      The  conversion  of    vowels  into  consonants   was 


60 

shown  in  last  Lecture.  The  importance  of  the  relation 
calls  for  a  similar  demonstration  of  the  conversion  of  con- 
sonants  into   vowels.      Thus: 

I.  The  Back  Voice  consonants  yields  the  Back  vowels, 
according  to  the  high,  mid,  or  low  position  of  the  tongue 
in  reference   to   the   soft   palate.      Thus: 

e    vowelised,  becomes  ] 

e^  "  "1 

e<  "  "       J 

n.  The  Top  Voice  consonant  yields  the  High  Front 
vowel.     Thus : 

a  vowelised,  becomes  I 

in.  The  Top-Mixed  Voice  consonant  yields  the  High 
Mixed  vowel.      Thus : 

c^  vowelised,  becomes  *[ 

IV.  The  Point  Voice  consonant  yields  the  Mid  Mixed 
vowel.     Thus : 

Ci>  vowelised,  becomes   \ 

V.  The  Lip  Voice  consonant  yields  the  High  or  the 
Mid   Front   Round   vowel,  according  to   the  position  of  the 

tongue.     Thus : 

3   \  owehsed,  becomes  f  or  { 

VI.  The  Back-Mixed  Voice  consonant  yields  the  Mid 
Back   Bound   vowel.     Thus: 

e;   vowelised,  becomes  } 

VII.  The  Lip-Mixed  Voice  consonant  yields  the  High 
Back  Round  vowel.      Thus  : 

3   vowelised,  becomes  1 

Glides  are  represented  by  a  set  of  distinctive  symbols, 
to  prevent  all  possibility  of  confusion  between   syllabic   and 


51 


non-syllabic  sounds.  The  Glide-symbols  are  compounded 
of  half  of  a  vowel  united  to  the  appropriate  consonant 
curve.      Thus : 


i  Back         |s  Top 

t  B.  mixed    c^T.  Bound 


1  Point 
V  P.  Bound 


I  L.  Mixed 


i  Throat 

I 

I  Voice 


Four   Glides,  altogether,  are  used   in   English  ;    namely : 

I  Voice  Glide :  a  sound  regularly  interposed  between  any 
•'  long  "  vowel  and  medial  r,  as  in  ai  ^  ry^  nea  /^  rest,  fie  y^  ry, 
9I0  ^  ry,  fu  ^  ry. 

1  B-glide,  or  Point  Glide:  the  sound  of  r  at  the  end 
of  a  syllable  or  before  a  consonant;  as  in  air,  ear,  ire, 
ore,  our,  err,  firm,  earth,  &c. 

i  W-glide,  or  Lip-Mixed  glide :    as  heard  in  know,  now,  &c. 

«  Y-glide,  or   Top   glide :    as  heard  in  bay,  buy,  boy,  &c. 

We  are  dealing  here  with  very  dehcate  shades  of  sound, 
such  as  could  not,  in  fact,  be  separately  illustrated  without 
exaggerating  their  effect,  yet  which  present  most  appreciable 
dififerences  in  the  combinations  of  speech.  The  English 
/•-glide,  for  instance — as  in  the  words  far,  sir,  war — is  so 
entirely  transitional  that  it  could  not  be  pronounced  alone. 
When  a  vowel  follows  the  r,  the  glide  is  strengthened  into 
a  'consonant,  as   in — 


war  3  Jil 
her  oil 
far        3ji! 


warrior     3  jculf « 
her  own     Old)  }iw 
far  off      3j(D  J3 


The  sound  given  to  r  in  America  is  of  a  different  for- 
mation. The  glide  has  the  quality  of  the  High  Mixed 
vowel   (X),  or  an   approximation   to   the  sound   of  the   Top- 


52 

Mixed  Voice  consonant  (c^).  When  a  vowel  follows  this  r, 
the  effect  is  scarcely  distinguishable  from  that  of  the  con- 
sonant y.  The  American  r- consonant  is  further  peculiarly 
strengthened  by  an  approximation  of  the  lips;  as  in  "very" 
(rzzive^y).  The  difference  between  the  American  and  the 
English  pronunciation  of  words  containing  r  between  vowels 
is  strongly  marked — as  in  carry,  very,  spirit,  sorry,  hurry. 
The  English  r  is  abrupt  and  purely  lingual;  while  the 
American   r  is   comparatively   long,  as    well   as   labiahsed. 

In  words  containing  mediaJ  r  after  a  "  long "  a  or  o — 
such  as  airy,  glory — English  usage  modifies  the  vowel 
sound  to  a  more  open  than  the  usual  quality,  besides  in- 
tei-posing  a  Voice-glide  between  the  vowel  and  the  r.  In 
American  pronunciation,  the  vowel  has  the  same  sound  be- 
fore r  as  before  any  other  consonant,  and  the  softening- 
glide   is   dispensed  with. 

A  general  principle  of  Consonant  formation  is  now  to  be 
explained.      Every   consonant  consists   of    two   parts. 

I.  An   organic   position. 
n.  An   organic  action. 

The  apphcations  of  this  principle  are  important  to  be 
understood.  When  any  consonant  is  final  in  a  word,  the 
consonant  is  finished  by  completely  detaching  the  articu- 
lating organs.  When  a  consonant  precedes  any  other  ele- 
ment— vowel  or  consonant — the  organic  "  action  "  is  not  an 
independent  separation,  but  an  opening  directly  into  the 
position  for  the  succeeding  sound.  Thus,  in  pronouncing 
the  word  pity,  the  "position"  for  p — one-half  of  the  ele- 
ment— is  silently  assumed,  and  the  "  action "  of  the  con- 
sonant consists  in  opening  the  Ups  directly  into  the  po- 
sition for  the  succeeding  vowel.  The  second  half  of  the 
p,  and  the  vowel,  are  therefore  phonetically  inseparable. 
So  of  the  letter  t  in  the  same  word ;  the  "  position  "  of  t — 
a  silent  closure  by   the  point    of    the   tongue — is   assumed 


63 

immediately  on  the  utterance  of  the  vowel;  and  the 
"  action "  of  the  t  opens  directly  into  the  position  for 
the  succeeding  sound.  The  "position"  and  the  "action" 
are  not,  however,  separated  by  any  pause,  but  uttered  com- 
pactly. 

The  "holding"  of  any  organic  position — as  in  saying 
pit'ty — constitutes  a  distinctive  mode  of  pronunciation, 
which  is  heard  in  some  languages.  Thus,  in  Italian,  the 
word  ecco  contains  exactly  the  same  elements  as  the  Eng- 
lish word  echo,  but  with  the  articulative  difference  that 
the  "  position  "  for  the  medial  consonant  is  "  held  "  for  an 
instant-  This  holding  of  any  position  has,  consequently,  a 
a   special   symbol   \    (Holder). 

When  t  'precedes  I  in  the  same  word,  the  "  action "  of 
the  t  does  not  detach  the  point  of  the  tongue,  but  merely 
removes  the  sides  into  the  position  for  l-,  as  in  battle, 
mettle,  little,  bottle,  scuttle.  It  is  evident  that  a  final  t 
might  be  formed  in  the  same  way.  A  symbol  for  the 
opening   of   side   apertures  is   therefore  provided.     Thus : 

I  Side  apertures. 

li  A  single  side  aperture. 

When  t  precedes  n  in  the  same  word,  the  "  action "  of 
the  t  does  not  affect  the  tongue  at  all.  The  tongue  main- 
tains its  "  Shut "  position,  while  the  soft  palate  opens  the 
passage  to  the  nose;  as  in  JEtna^  lightning,  witness, fatt{e)ri, 
Jcitt{e)n,  butt{o)n.  Obviously,  a  final  t  might  be  formed 
in  the  same  way,  and  such  a  mode  of  formation  must, 
therefore,  be  included  as  a  phonetic  element  The  symbol 
of  nasality  written  after  the  consonant  correctly  depicts  this 
effect.      Thus : 

Ti     t  with  nasal  finish. 

The  two  varieties  of  t — namely,  with  side  finish  (t|), 
and  with  nasal   finish   (ti) — are  not    uncommon    individual- 


54 

ities  of  utterance  among  defective  speakers ;  and  they  may 
possibly  be  recognised  as  characteristics  in  some  lan- 
guage. The  combination  tl  is  of  frequent  occurrence  at 
the  end  of  ancient  Mexican  words.  X,  in  this  position, 
as  we  pronounce  the  letter,  would  form  a  syllable;  but, 
very  probably,  the  effect  intended  by  the  Mexican  tl  was 
merely   that   a   of    if   with    side-finish. 

This  conjecture  received  an  interesting  corroboration  from 
the  Professor  of  Scandinavian  Literature  at  Oxford — who 
recognised  the  t  with  side-finish  as  a  familiar  sound  in 
Scandinavian   dialects. 

The  other  Shut  consonants— jo  and  k — are  equally  sus- 
ceptible of  being  finished  by  the  action  of  the  soft  pal- 
ate, instead  of  by  organic  separation.  The  consonant  p  is 
necessarily  so  finished  in  such  words  as  shopman^  top- 
mast^ &c.  But  a  final  p  ox  k  may  be  pronounced  in  the 
same  way.  In  this  case,  the  sign  of  nasality  after  the  con- 
sonant  correctly   exhibits  the  effect.      Thus: 

Ps     with  nasal  finish. 

Ks        "        "        " 

The  sound  of  cA,  as  in  c^«^>,  furnishes  an  important  ex- 
ample of  the  principle  of  consonant  combination.  The  first 
part  of  the  compound  is  a  silent  closure  by  the  tongue — in 
other  words,  one-half  of  a  t — and  the  "action"  of  the  t — 
its  second  half — merely  opens  the  aperture  for  sh.  Some 
persons  are  unable  to  recognise  in  the  sound  of  ch  a 
union  of  the  two  elements  t  and  sh.  They  overlook  the 
fact  that  the  first  consonant  in  any  combination  is  never 
finished  independently.  The  "  position "  for  t  produces  no 
sound,  and  the  "action"  of  the  consonant  is  phonetically 
insepai'able  from  the  connected  sound  of  sh.  The  initial 
element  in  the  word  che/w  will  be  felt  to  be  exactly  the 
same  as  that  in  the  word  true.  Both,  certainly,  corres- 
pond  "to  a   tee." 


55 

The  same  observations  apply  to  the  sound  of  the  letter  j^ 
which  is  precisely  that  of  cA,  but  formed  with  voice  in- 
stead of  unvocalised  breath.  J  commences  with  the 
"  position "  of  d^  and  the  "  action  "  of  the  d  is  inseparable 
from  the  connected  sound  of  zh.  The  initial  element  will 
be  felt  to  be  exactly  the  same  in  the  three  words  jew^ 
drew,  due. 

The  only  remaining  variety  of  speech-elements  consists 
of  Tones.  All  words  are  uttered  with  some  degree  of 
vocal  movement — either  from  grave  to  acute  or  from  acute 
to  grave.  In  this  respect,  the  speaking  voice  differs  es- 
sentially from  the  singing  voice,  the  tones  of  which  are, 
individually,  non-inflected — that  is,  monotones. 

Each  of  the  vocal  movements  has-  a  meaning  which  is 
instinctively  associated  with  the  tone  by  all  persons.  Thus, 
when  we  hear  a  language  which  we  do  not  understand, 
we  can  interpret  the  spirit  of  the  speaker  by  untaught 
appreciation  of  his  tones.  We  know  when  he  is  dubious 
or  confident,  when  conciliatory  or  repugnant,  when  entreat- 
ing or  mandatory,  when  his  statement  is  incomplete,  or 
when   it   is   finished. 

The  existence  of  dialectic  tunes  may  be  supposed  to 
mihtate  against  this  natural  uniformity  of  tonic  expressive- 
ness ;  but  there  is,  rather,  reason  to  believe  that  the  re- 
currence of  a  certain  kind  of  tone  in  dialects  reveals 
among  the  speakers  a  predominance  of  the  sentiment  ap- 
propriate to  the  habitual  inflexion.  A  prevalent  rising  in- 
tonation would  thus  denote  a  cautious,  inquisitive,  or 
querulous  disposition;  and  a  prevalent  falhng  intonation 
would  indicate  an  adventurous,  assertive,  or  domineering- 
temperament. 

These  extremes  of  habitual  vocal  expression  are  strik- 
ingly exemplified  in  the  dialectic  tunes  of  certain  districts 
in  Scotland.  In  one,  the  rising  tone  is  repeated  in  clause 
after   clause,  and   sentence    after    sentence,  with    a  wonder- 


56 

ful  degree  of  monotony;  and  in  another,  the  faUing  tone 
is  employed  with  equal  frequency  and  absence  of  variety, 
through   the   whole   current   of    speech. 

Besides  dialectic  tunes,  there  are  professional  tunes, 
more  or  less  strongly  accented,  where  a  mere  habit  of 
intonation  takes  the  place  of  natural  expression.  We  are 
all  conscious  of  a  predominating  twang  of  this  kind  among 
speakers  of  the  different  oratorical  professions ;  and  when 
we  hear  a  delivery  which  is  free  from  such  blemishes, 
and  governed  by  natural  impulses — whether  instinctively 
practised  or  artistically  acquired — we  know  that  we  are  in 
the  presence  of  a  master  in  his  department,  whatever  it 
may  be,  legal,  clerical,  or  dramatic.  The  significance  of 
the  vocal  movements  should  be  studied  as  an  essential  qual- 
ification  for   successful   oratory. 

The  primary  meaning  of  the  vocal  inflexions  is  simply 
to  connect  or  disconnect  what  has  been  said,  with,  or 
from,    what    is     to     follow.  The     rising     or     connective 

tone  ( / )  is  thus  logically  associated  with  incompleteness 
of  sense,  contingency,  interrogation,  and  dubiety;  and  the 
falHng  or  disconnective  tone  ( \ ),  with  completeness  of 
sense,  absoluteness,  assertion,  and   confidence. 

The  tones  have  also  a  sentimental  expressiveness ;  the 
rising  tone  being  associated  with  sympathy,  deference, 
desire,  and  all  attractive  feelings ;  and  the  falling  tone, 
with  severity,  contempt,  dislike,  and  all  repellent  feelings. 
A  speaker  who  should  use  a  falHng  tone  with  the  lan- 
guage of  entreaty,  or  a  rising  tone  with  the  language  of 
conviction,  would  be,  by  every  hearer,  instinctively  felt  to 
be  insincere. 

The  union  of  the  two  vocal  movements  on  one  syllabic 
impulse  produces  a  pair  of  compound  inflexions  which  il- 
lustrate the  same  principles  of  inherent  expressiveness. 
Simple  tones  accompany  direct  and  simple  language;  com- 
pound tones  accompany  language  which  means  more  or  less 


57 

than  the  words  themselves  convey.  The  contrasted  tones 
suggest  a  contrast  in  sense  between  the  word  used  and 
some  other  word  impHed.  The  law  of  expressiveness  may 
be   thus   formulated : 

The  effect  of  the  last  element  in  the  compound  is  mod- 
ified by  a  suggested  mitithesis ;  which  is  positive  or  negative 
in   accordance    with  the  expressiveness  of   the   first  element. 

Thus,  the  compound  rising  tone  (V) — which  commences 
with  a  fall  and  ends  with  a  rise — is  positive  by  its  com- 
mencement and  negative  by  its  termination;  and  its  effect 
is  to  suggest  a  positive  antithesis.  For  example,  when 
Brutus  says  to  Cassius:  "Z  can  raise  no  money  by  vile 
means,"  he  plainly  suggests  the  accusation  that  Cassius 
had  done  so.  The  insinuation  is  not  in  the  language, 
but  altogether  in  the  tone  with  which  the  word  "  I "  is 
pronounced.  The  compound  rise  is  the  natural  expression 
of    warning,  threatening,  insinuation,  and   sarcastic    inquiry. 

The  compound  falling  tone  (/\) — which  commences  with 
a  rise  and  ends  with  a  fall — is  negative  by  its  com- 
mencement and  positive  by  its  termination ;  and  its  effect 
is  to  suggest  a  negative  antithesis.  For  example,  when 
Nathan  said  to  David:  "  Thou  art  the  man,"  he  plainly 
referred  negatively  to  the  supposititious  individual  in  the 
parable :  "  Not  the  other,  but  thou."  The  compound  fall 
is  the  natural  expression  of  counter-assertion,  and  of  sar- 
castic  affirmation. 

One  other  compound  completes  the  mechanical  varieties  of 
vocal  inflexion.  This  consists  in  the  union,  on  a  single  syl- 
labic impulse,  of  a  compound  fall  with  a  terminal  rise  (  /\/  ). 
The  tone,  therefore,  expresses  sarcastic  interrogation,  or 
counter-assertion    with   incomplete   sense.       For   example,  in 

this   passage: 

''  One  murder  made  a  villain, 
Millions  a  hero," 

the  incomplete     sense     joined   to     antithesis    in     the    word 


58 

"millions"    requires     the    intonation    of      this     expressive 
"Double  Wave." 

Some  little  practice  is  required  to  enable  the  ear  to  rec- 
ognise with  certainty  the  nicer  shades  of  vocal  inflexion, 
and  to  analyse  the  constantly  changing  movements  of  a 
cultivated  voice.  Such  an  analysis  would  make  manifest 
a  principle  which  is  not  generally  understood;  namely, 
that  there  is  no  necessary  connection  between  any  given 
construction  of  a  sentence,  and  any  given  kind  of  tone. 
Interrogative  language  is  frequently  pronounced  interrog- 
atively; and  imperative  language  may  take  either  a  posi- 
tive or  a  negative  tone,  according  to  the  intention  of  the 
speaker.  The  sense  in  which  we  interpret  words  depends 
on  the  tones  in  which  they  are  delivered.  So  far,  there- 
fore, from  Construction  governing  Intonation,  as  has  been 
generally  taught,  the  contrary  is  the  fact:  that  Tones  are 
the  governors  and  interpreters  of  Language.  Hence  the 
necessity  of  including  Tones  among  Phonetic  elements,  and 
the  importance  of  understanding  their  inherent  expressive- 
ness. 

The  whole  scheme  of  Phonetics  is  now  before  the 
reader.  Its  details  constitute  a  Universal  Alphabet.  The 
system  of  "Visible  Speech  "—the  symbols  of  which  are 
here  used  in  exposition  of  the  subject — was  first  published 
in  1867.  The  full  effects  of  the  System  have  not  yet 
been  realised;  but  this  much,  at  least,  has  been  accom- 
plished: that  the  teaching  of  articulation,  at  home  and 
abroad,  has  been  revolutionised  in  principle,  and  facilitated 
in  practice;  and  that  the  elementary  classifications  intro- 
duced in  Visible  Speech  have  been  widely,  if  not  univer- 
sally, adopted  in  foreign,  as  well  as  in  EngUsh  philological 
works. 

The  use  of  the  physiological  phonetic  symbols  in  common 
schools  will  form  an  era  in  primary  education.  This, 
surely,  will  not  be  deferred  to  a  distant  future.     Meantime, 


59 

the  symbolic  writing  has  been  largely  employed  in  teach- 
ing Speech  to  the  Deaf — ^no  longer,  of  necessity,  Dumb — 
chiefly  in  the  numerous  Institutions  throughout  the  United 
States.  Personal  instruction  was  made  available  there  so 
early  as  1871 ;  in  consequence  of  which,  the  system  is, 
perhaps,  better  known  in  America  than  in  its  native  land. 
But  the  great  popular  field  of  utihty  is  still  unbroken. 
If  this  little  book  shall  be  honoured  by  a  wide  circle  of 
teacher-readers,  its  perusal  may,  happily,  stimulate  them 
to  make  experimental  appUcations  of  Visible  Speech  in 
their   classes. 

From  the  knowledge  of  the  subject  the  reader  will  now 
have  acquired,  he  will  easUy  conceive  how  directive  the 
symbols  are  to  those  whose  ears  are  shut  to  sounds. 
The  positions  of  the  tongue — the  vocalising  or  non-vocal- 
ising of  the  breath — the  open  or  shut  condition  of  the 
nasal  passage,  and  all  the  minute  adjustments  on  which 
modifications  of  articulate  sounds  depend,  are  expressed 
to  the  eye;  so  that  when  the  organs  are  placed  in  the 
corresponding  position,  the  sound  necessarily  follows,  with- 
out direction  from  the  ear.  No  difficulty  is  found  in 
teaching  deaf  children  of  six  or  seven  years  of  age  to 
understand  the  symbols,  and  to  mould  their  mouths  under 
their  direction  with  beautiful  facility ;  and  when  the  little 
ones  have  not  been  exactly  accurate  in  their  pronuncia- 
tion of  a  sound,  the  teacher  has  only  to  write  on  the 
blackboard  the  symbol  of  the  faulty  utterance  to  have 
the  latter  spontaneously  corrected  by  the  learners  them- 
selves. Of  course,  with  the  ear's  assistance,  the  effects 
will  be  more  rapidly  and  correctly  produced;  so  that 
hearing   children   should   exhibit   still   greater  facility. 

The  want  of  any  representative  of  "  Visible  Speech " 
in  England,  during  the  years  that  have  elapsed,  since  the 
publication  of  the  system,  has  hindered  its  diffusion  in 
that  country  ;   and  has  also  been  productive  of  drawbacks  of 


60 

another  kind.  The  symmetry  of  the  System  has  been  deformed 
in  republications  which  have  been  made  without  leave  asked 
or  given;  and  these  have  been  accompanied  by  statements 
that  the  original  system  had  been  suffered  to  go  "  out  of 
print."     These   facts   have   only   recently   been   learned. 

One  emendator,  it  seems,  had  supposed  the  System 
wanting  in  symbols  for  the  Teeth;  and,  accordingly,  he 
actually  provided  it  with  a  set.  "  Visible  Speech "  was, 
certainly,  not  born  with  teeth ;  or,  rather,  teeth  being  in 
the  mouth,  their  presence  is  implied,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  requires  no  symbolising — as  they  are  not  in  the  habit 
of  shifting  their  root-fast  positions.  The  teeth,  like  the 
hard  palate,  are  only  passively  employed ;  and  it  will  be 
time  enough  to  call  in  dental  aid  when  the  teeth  are 
shown   to   be  the  active  agents  in  forming   any   oral   sound. 

The  sufficiency  of  the  Scheme  of  Symbols  was  abso- 
lutely demonstrated  by  the  exhaustive  practical  tests  in 
linguistic  writing  to  which  the  System  was  subjected  be- 
fore pubUcation;  and  the  sound  has  yet  to  be  found  in 
any  language  which  cannot  be  written  by  the  symbols, 
so  as  to  be  reproduced  from  the  writing,  with  uniformity, 
by   all  readers. 

The  only  difference  between  the  Inaugural  Edition — 
still  "in  print" — and  the  latest  publication  of  the  system, 
entitled  "  Sounds  and  Their  Relations^''  involves  no  al- 
teration in  a  single  particular,  except  an  interchange  of 
values  between  two  pairs  of  the  Mixed  consonant  sym- 
bols. These  are  o  o  and  w  w.  Strangely  enough,  it  was 
by  deaf  learners — that  is,  the  so-called  deaf  and  dumb — 
that  the  desirability  of  this  alteration  was  demonstrated 
by  their  pronunciation  of  sh  for  the  symbol  for  .s",  and  vice 
versa.  This  unprejudiced  verdict  was  acted  on  in  the 
assignment  of  the  symbols  as  shown  in  "  Sounds  and 
Their  Kelations,"  and  in  the  present  Work.  So  simple  a 
concession   to   practical    efficiency    has,  however,  been   made 


61 

the  pretext  for  tampering  with  the  very  foundations  of 
the   system. 

The  Physiological  Alphabet  is  not  exclusive  of  new  char- 
acters, wherever  they  may  be  found  desirable.  The  same 
symbolic  elements  may  be  united  in  other  forms,  to  rep- 
resent compound  sounds — c/i,  J,  st,  ts,  &c.  Such  contrac- 
tions, however,  are  not  to  be  recommended.  Simplicity  is 
too   grand   a   quality   to   be   lightly   sacrifised. 

The  fact  is  curious  and  interesting  that  all  languages 
contain  many  words  the  sounds  of  which  are  suggestive 
of  the  objects  or  qualities  denoted  by  the  words.  This 
is  a  department  of  Phonetics  which  has  not  been  much 
investigated.  Does  the  expressive  effect  in  such  words  de- 
pend on  the  nature  of  the  articulate  combinations — as 
smooth,  harsh,  fluent,  sonorous,  feeble,  abrupt,  &c.  ?  Or  is 
its  source  to  be  found  in  the  very  elements  of  utterance? 
Has  every  vowel  and  every  consonant  an  inherent  ex- 
pressiveness ?  The  affirmative  theory  is  maintained  by  an 
author  named  Upton,  whose  little-known  book — entitled 
"  Physioglyphics  " — was  published  in  London  in  1844.  The 
same  theory  is  also  supported  in  a  book  entitled 
"  Glossology,"  by  Charles  Kraitsir,  M.  D.,  published  in 
New  York  in   1852. 

The  views  of  the  first  author  are  developed  with  a 
forbidding  rashness  of  assertion,  and  boldness  ;  and  those 
of  the  second  with  an  air  of  dogmatism,  coupled  with  con- 
tempt for  all  gainsayers :  yet  the  illustrations  given  seem 
to  indicate  the  reality  of  an  original  relation  between  ideas 
and  elementary  sounds.  The  point  should  be  worthy  of 
unprejudiced   investigation. 

Science  has  hitherto  done  very  little  for  speech.  There 
is  a  large  amount  of  unused  material  in  simple  monosyl- 
labic combinations  of  letters,  which  might  be  made  avail- 
able for  new  nomenclatures,  if  a  scientific  basis  could  be 
laid  down.     Electricity  has  recently  introduced  the    terms 


62 

erg,  ohm,  volt,  watt,  farad,  &c;,  commemorating  in  this  way 
the  names  of  distinguished  philosophers  (Volta,  Watt, 
Faraday,  &c.),  but  this  source  of  nomenclature  is  too  lim- 
ited for  extensive  adoption.  Thousands  of  words  might  be 
fabricated  which  could  be  arranged  to  convey  a  syste- 
matised  series  of  facts.  For  example,  besides  the  word 
oAm,  we  might  have,  from  the  combination  of  the  single 
vowel  o  with  a  final  consonant,  nine  other  words,  all  of 
which,  at  present,  have  no  signification.  Taking  the  two 
ordinary  sounds  of  each  of  the  five  vowel  letters  before 
single  consonants,  we  have  upwards  of  one  hundred  syl- 
lables of  which  we  make  no  use.  Syllables  with  vowels 
after  consonants,  and  with  vowels  between  consonants,  add 
many  hundreds  to  this  now  superfluous  speech-material. 
In  this  direction,  possibly,  lies  an  important  future  for  the 
Science   of    Phonetics. 

We  cannot  take  up  a  book  of  travels,  and  scarcely  a 
newspaper,  without  meeting  with  proper  names  the  sounds 
of  which  we  can  only  guess  at,  owing  to  the  indefinite- 
ness  of  value  of  the  letters  by  which  they  are  written.  A 
few  years  ago  the  name  of  the  deposed  Zulu  king — 
spelled  Cetewayo  — was  in  every  newspaper,  and 
it  would  have  been  on  every  tongue  if  people  had  known 
how  to  pronounce  it.  Some  began  it  with  the  sound  of 
S,  some  with  that  of  Ch,  some  with  that  of  K;  some 
made  it  four  syllables,  and  some  made  it  three.  The 
readers  of  the  London  "  Times "  were  partially  relieved 
from  perplexity  by  a  kindly  phonetician,'  intimating  that 
K  was  the  true  initial  sound,  and  that  the  number  of 
syllables  was  properly  three.  The  pronunciation  of  the 
"  te,"  however,  this  African  scholar  could  only  describe  as 
resembling  that  of  the  English  ch ;  but  the  true  sound 
turns  out  to  be  one  of  the  African  clicks;  which  makes 
the  name  Ket<wayo.  An  officer  who  had  been  in 
the  suite  of    the  imfortunate  Prince   Imperial  in  Zululand, 


63 

states  that  the  King's  name  was  simply  T  <  w  a  y  o  ,  and 
that  the  initial  "  Ce "  had  been  acjded  by  Europeans  in 
their  sheer  inabihty  to  write  the  native  sound. 

In  a  recently  published  volume  of  the  "Library  of  Amer- 
ican   Aboriginal   Literature "   the   following   passage   occurs : 

"The  significance  of  the  name  Yutchi  by  which  this  people  calls 
itself  is  unknown.  All  the  surrounding  Indian  tribes  call  them  Y  u  c  h  i , 
with  the  exception  of,"  &c. 

Now,  what  is  the  intended  phonetic  difference  between 
Yutchi  and  Yuchi"^  We  write  ch  in  much  and  tch  in 
match  to  denote  the  very  same  sound.  English  usage, 
therefore,  furnishes  no  guide.  Dots  and  other  diacritic  signs 
are  often  put  on  letters  in  foreign  words,  but  their  only  in- 
dication is  that  the  letters  have  some  other  thau  their 
ordinary  English  sounds.  In  all  such  cases  the  exact  pro- 
nunciation might  be  shown — within  brackets  or  in  a  foot- 
note— and  the  reader's  interest  would  be  vastly  increased. 
Foreign  words  might  then  be  printed  in  the  text  without  de- 
facing marks,  and  a  translation  into  phonetic  letters  appended. 

One  striking  point  in  connection  with  speech  calls  for  a 
single  observation  before  concluding,  namely,  the  power  of 
speech-reading  by  the  deaf  from  watching  the  motions  of  the 
mouth.  This  is  a  very  remarkable  power,  considering  the 
facts  that  some  of  the  articulative  actions  take  place  at  the 
back  of  the  mouth  and  are  invisible,  or  very  imperfectly 
seen;  and  that  nearly  all  the  visible  motions  of  the  lips 
and  tongue  are  subject  to  ambiguity.  P,  B  and  M,  for  ex- 
ample, are  to  the  eye  exactly  alike ;  so,  also,  are  T,  D,  and 
N ;  K,  G,  and  Ng ;  F  and  V ;  S  and  Z ;  Ch  and  J ;  and 
some  others.  The  change  from  a  Shut  to  a  Nasal  consonant, 
or  from  a  Nasal  to  a  Shut,  is  entirely  invisible ;  so  that 
lamb,  lap,  and  lam^p;  hid,  hint,  and  hidden;  m.ine,  might, 
and  m,ind;  mid,  mit,  mhit,  and  mitten;  sat,  sad,  sand, 
and  sadden,  are  altogether  indistinguishable  to  sight.  Not- 
withstanding these  difficulties,  many  deaf  persons  understand 


64 

nearly  all  that  is  said  to  them.  In  this  they  are,  of 
course,  guided  by  context.  But  they  requh'e  a  very  ex- 
tensive acquaintance  with  words,  and  with  the  construc- 
tions of  language,  as  well  as  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
mechanisms  of  speech — and,  added  to  these,  a  high  degree 
of  intellectual  ability  and  promptitude— to  enable  them  to 
gather   context   under   such  circumstances. 

The  end  to  be  attained  is,  however,  worth  the  indis- 
pensable preliminary  labour.  Social  communication  is  one 
of  the  chief  blessings  of  life.  We  find  that,  even  to  the 
deaf,  a  study  of  Phonetics  is  possible.  How  much  easier 
is  it  to  those  who  are  blessed  with  a  sense  of  hearing! 
Let  us  not,  then,  grudge  the  pains  required  for  a  rgastery 
of  the  Art  and  Science  of  Phonetics — not  only  that  we  ma}^ 
speak  effectively  to  fellow-countrymen,  but  that  we  may 
extend  our  power  of  social  communication  to  our  fellow- 
men  throughout   the   world. 


APPENDIX 

ON    THE 

PHONETICS  OF  ROMAN  LETTERS. 


I,— VOWELS. 

^  SINGLE    LETTERS. 

A.  The   name   of   this   letter  includes   the   sounds   of   the 
Mid  Front  vowel  and  the  Top  Glide  ([^). 

The  letter  A  has  nine  sounds  in  English  syllables;    as  in 

(  play  C^,         care     C,         any     i,         add     j. 

\  [playjmate     [ 

orange     T,         a    1,         path    3,         arm    j.* 
S  all         i^ 
I  swan    J 

E.  The    name   of  this   letter   is    the   sound    of    the    High 
Front  vowel  I. 
The  letter  E  has  eight  sounds  in  English  syllftbies;   as  in 

(  eve  £♦,         England     I,         the     T,         ere     i. 

\  secure     I 
ever     1;,         err     x,         sergeant     j,        righteous     (I). 

I.  The  name  of  this  letter  includes  the  sounds  of  the  Mid 
Back  Wide  vowel  and  the  Top  Glide  (3s). 
The  letter  I  has  six  sounds  in  English  syllables;   as  in 

ice     3«,        police     I,         ill     f,         bird     X- 
soldier     c^,         [mill]ion     (ti. 

O.  The   name   of   this   letter  includes   the   sounds   of   the 
Mid  Back  Round  vowel  and  the  Lip  Mixed  Glide  (}i). 


66      . 

The  letter  O  has  nine  sounds  in  English  syllables;    as  in 


So 


ode               }i,  ore    },     (  orb     jv,        do,        i       wolf    1, 

[pinion]     },  ^  on      j. 

word     ]v,  women     I,         accompt    u,        one     3i. 
son       : 


U.  The  name  of  this  letter  includes  the  sounds  of  the  Top 
Voice  consonant  (m)  and  the  High  Back  Round  vowel  (1), 
forming  the   syllable   y  oo. 

The  letter  U  has  eight  sounds  in  English  syllables;   as  in 

use     (t)\,        cure     (^i.        rule    i,        bull     i,  <  um    ]i. 

^up      ]. 
busy     r,         bury     {        persuade     3. 

Y.  The  name  of  this  letter  includes  the  consonant  W 
and  the  name-sound  of  the  letter  I  (=wi);  but  Y  is  never 
so  pronounced  in  any  syllable. 

The  letter  Y  is  used  to  represent  three  vowel  sounds; 
as   in 

my     3^,         hymn     I         myrrh     x. 

W.  This  letter  is  never  used  alone  to  represent  a  vowel 
soand,  in  English;  but  both  W  and  Y  are  common  ortho- 
graphic elements   in   vowel   notation;    as   in 

day         they        joy         buy 
law         few  how      know 

In  the  preceding  illustrations  the  same  sounds  occur,  in 
several  instances,  under  different  letters.  In  the  following 
Table  the  various  sounds  are  collected.  The  Table  shows 
that  a  total  of  eighteen  vowel  sounds,  as  well  as  three  con- 
sonant sounds,  are  denoted  by  the  six  letters  A  E  I  O  U  Y : 

X  I  C         C         I         I  T         I       I 

eve  ill  play-    care     any      add        the         a        err 

secure     England     mate     ere       ever  orange  bird 

police     women  bury  myrrh 

busy 

hymn 


67 


]       3            J 

1 

1 

} 

J 

J 

J 

urn     path         arm 
up       ice       sergeant 
word  my 
son     accompt 

do 

rule 

use 

wolf 
bull 
cure 

ode 
opinion 

ore 

all 
swan 

orb 
on 

c^ 

<r> 

3 

soldier 

righteous 

one 

million        persuade 


COMBINATIONS. 

The  five  vowel  letters,  A  E  I  O  U,  together  with  the  aux- 
iliary letters,  W  Y,  are  used  in  a  great  variety  of  combi- 
nations in  English  syllables,  as  exemplified  in  the  following 
list : 


laurel  j        hauteur  } 


Monday  C         ^y  J^ 


Aa.  Aaron  c         Isaac  x 

j^.  Caesar  I 

Ae.  aerie  I         aer  C         aerial  [l         Israel  [[ 

Ai.  ail  C^       air  C       said  i       plaid  x       captain  T       aisle  3,^ 

Ao.  gaol  [^         extraordinary  j         Pharaoh   }         chaos   ["^J 

aorta  [/         Aonian  [} 
Au.  gauge  [a       aunt  j        aught  }\ 
Aw.  awful  }         away  Is 
Ay.  lay  [^         prayer  r         says  [ 
Aou.  caoutchouc  3^ 
Awe.  awe  }i 

Aye.  aye  [^         gayety  [T        gayest  CC 
Ea.  each  I     great  ['i       wear  C       health 

guinea  T      create  U/      react  Ix^ 
Ee.  bee  I         breeches  f         re-enter  I].^ 
E'e.  e'en  I         ne'er  c 
Ei.  ceil  I         veil  l^         heir  c         heifer  i        height  3^ 

forfeit  T         re-imburse  [^ 
Eo.  people  I         leopard  i        George  j        dungeon  1 

feod  (f)i         theology  ly         Creole  F} 
Eu.  rheum  \        feud  cT)i         amateur  x  [{  French]. 
Ew.  shew  }         grew  I        dew  ml 

Ey.  key  I        prey  [^         eyre  t  monkey  f  eying 

Eau.  beau  }i         beauty  ci)i 


[       earl 
area  l\ 


heart  j 

idea  I  1 


3^ 


68 


friend  i        die  3?^ 
earlier  Ix         science  3^ c 
mediocrity  Ij 


Eoi.  burgeois  j^ 

Ewe.  sewed  }2        brewed  }         sewer  (drain)  i 

Eye.  keyed  I         surveyed  [?i         eyed  3?i 

la.  parliament  T         mediate  ![         trivial  l\ 

Iambic  3sx^ 
lae.  minutiae  oL 
le.  field  r        sieve  I 

veriest  U 
lo.  motion  1       mediocre  I3- 

lonic  3?iJ^ 
Oa.  oar  }        boat  3-i         broad  j^         groat  j 

oasis  }^X        coagulate  }i^        coarct  9-j^ 
Oe.  doe  }i         shoe  h        poet  9-^T         coeval  3-1^ 
Oi.  connoisseur  [         avoir[dupoise]  1       coin  j^ 

doing  VI         choir  33^1         memoir  3j 
Oo.  blood   ]         door  }         brooch  }i         bloom  i* 

zoology  3-j^         zoological  }} 
Ou.  four  }        soul  }i      through  h       would  i 

cough  J         young  ] 
Ow.  know  }i         knowledge  j  bellows  (n)  1 

Oy.  boy  j^ 
Ua.  guard  j     piquant  i      guano  Ij^     quack  3X     squall  3j\ 

squat  3 J        persuade  3[^ 
Ue.  guess  1;        guerdon  x         rue  i*        cue  a)ii        cruel  i'C 

duel  oi^C        duet  oii^         query  3 1        quell  3i 
Ui.  mosquito  I      build  I      guide  3s       fruit  ii      fruition  U^ 

suit  0i*     aguish  oH     suite  3 1      quill  3!      quire  33'i 

squirt  3X 
Uo.  liquor  1         quote    3}i         quorum    33-         quondam    3J 

duo  (r)V} 
Uu.  duumvirate  (t)iy 
Uy.  buy  3^        plaguy  I 
We.  answer  x 
Wo.  sword  }        two  if 
Ye.  dye  [«         dyer  3^''X 


ewe  (T)i 
hiatus  3^C^ 

series  IT 

violence  3^^} 

cupboard  1 

oboe  j^ 
stoic  y[ 

book  1 

bought  jf 

now  ]i 


colloquy  3f 

twopence  ] 
hyena  3^1^ 


leu.  adieu  (tih 
lew.  view  oh 
lewe.  viewed  mit 
lou.  cautious  1 
(Eu.  manoeuvre  h 


lieutenant  [3 


6-9 

Ooe.  wooed  ii 

Owa.  towards.  } 

Owe.  owed  }i        lowest  Vi        vowel  u^i 

Uay.  quay  I  , 

Uea.  squeak  3 1 

Uee.  queen  si 

Ueu.  liqueur  x  (■£  French). 

Ueue.  queue  mi* 

Uoi.  turquoise  }^         quoit  b}^ 

Uoy.  buoy  3j^ 

Uoyed.  buoyed  3js 

« 
SILENT  LETTERS. 

Final  E  is  generally  silent,  although  it  is  not  without 
significance,  because  it  shows  that  the  preceding  •  vowel  has 
its  name-sound;  as  in  trade,  gate,  sake,  sale,  same,  sane, 
mete,  eke,  scheme,  scene,  ride,  rite,  like,  file,  time,  fine,  ode, 
coke,  pole,  dome,  lone,  note,  duke,  fume,  mute,  mule,  nude, 
tune.      There   are,  however,  many   exceptions;    as  in 

have,  bade,  give,  live  (v)  love,  gone,  some,  etc. 

The  letter  E,  in  the  termination  ed,  in  verbs,  is  silent, 
except  when  the   verb   ends   in  T   or   D. 

The  letter  U,  in  guerdon,  guess;  guide,  plague,  is  silent 
but  significant,  being  used  to  show  that  the  G-  has  its 
"  hard  "    sound. 

The  letters  UE  in  harangue,  dialogue,  &c.,  are  not  only 
silent,  but   without   significance. 


70 
PHONETICS  OF  ROMAN  LETTERS. 

IL— CONSONANTS. 

B.  This,  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Lip  Shut 
Voice   consonant    0.      It  denotes   no   other   sound. 

B  combines  Tfith  1,  r,  w,  y;  as  in  blight,  bright,  buoy, 
beauty. 

B  unites   with   no  initial   consonant  in  the  same  syllable. 

B   is   silent   in   dumb,  debt,  bdellium. 

The  sound  of  B  is  represented  by  b,  bb,  be,  pb;  as  in 
crab,  eb^b,  globe,  cupboard. 

C.  This  letter  is  very  variously  used.  It  has  the  sound 
of  S  in  cell,  city,  circle;  of  K  in  cat,  cot,  cut;  of  SH  in 
special,  vicious;    and   of   Z   in   sacrifice  (verb). 

C  (=K)  combines  with  1,  r,  y;  as  in  clew,  crew,  cue.  It 
unites   with  no   initial   consonant   except   S,  as   in   scale. 

G  (=S)  combines  with  no  other  consonant  in  the  same 
syllable. 

C  is  silent  before  k,  q;  as  in  back,  acquire;  also  in 
Czar,  indict,  muscle,  science. 

The  combination  CH  has  the  sound  of  K  in  character; 
SH  in  chaise;  TSH  in  church;  and  J  in  sandwich.  Ch 
is    silent   in   drachm,  schism,  yacht. 

D.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Point  Shut 
Voice  consonant  q.  It  denotes,  also,  the  sound  of  T  in 
the  termination  -ed  after  a  non-vocal  consonant;  as  in 
hoped,  chafed,  hissed,  wished,  baked. 

D   combines  with  r,  w,  y,  zh;  as   in  draw,  dwell,  due,  jew. 

D   unites   with   no   initial   consonant. 

D   is   silent   in   handkerchief,  Wednesday. 

D  is  represented  by  d,  bd,  dd,  de.  Id,  ddh;  as  in  day, 
bdellium,  add,  bade,  would,   buddhism. 

F.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Lip  Divided 
consonant   3.      It  denotes,  also,  the  sound  of  V  in   of. 

F   combines   with   1,  r,  y;    as   in   flee,  free,  few. 


71 

The  sound  of  F  unites  (only  under  the  form  of  PH) 
with   the   initial   consonant   S,  as   in   sphere. 

F   is   never   silent   except   in   halfpenny. 

The  sound  of  F  is  represented  by  f,  fe,  ff,  ft,  gh,  If,  ph, 
phe,  pph;  as  in  if,  safe,  staff,  soften,  laugh,  half,  camphor, 
ouphe,  sapphire. 

G.  This  letter  represents  two  distinct  sounds :  one,  called 
the  "  hard "  sound,  is  that  of  the  Back  Shut  Voice  con- 
sonant e,  as  in  get;  the  other,  called  the  "soft"  sound,  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  letter  J,  as  in  gem.  G  also  de- 
notes the    sound   of    ^.,  as   in   rouge. 

The  "  hard "  sound  of  G  is  heard  regularly  (except  in 
the  word  gaol)  before  a,  o,  u;  as  in  gain,  gather,  go,  gone, 
guess,  guard;  and  the  "soft"  sound  is  heard  (with  many 
exceptions)   before   e,  i,  y;    as   in  gentle,  gist,  gyve. 

G  (=e)  combines  with  1,  r,  y;  as  in  glow,  grow,  gew- 
gaw.     It   unites   with   no   initial   consonant. 

G  (=  J)  and  G  (=:  ^)  combine  with  no  other  consonant 
in   the    same   syllable,  except   d;    as   in   changed,  rouged. 

G   is   silent   in   seraglio,  phlegm,  gnomen. 

The  sound  of  G  (=Q)  is  represented  by  g,  gg,  gh,  ckg; 
as  in  flag,  egg,  ghost,  blackguard. 

The  sound  of  G  (=  J)  is  represented  by  g,  j,  di,  ch,  ge, 
gg,  dge;  as  in  gesture,  jay,  soldier,  Greenwich,  sage,  exag- 
gerate, lodge. 

The  sound  of  G  (=  en)  is  represented  by  g,  j,  s,  t,  z,  ge, 
ss;  as  in  giraffe,  jambeaux,  leisure,  transition,  azure,  rouge, 
abscission. 

H.  This  letter  represents  an  emission  of  breath  through 
a  vowel  configuration.  The  breath  has  the  quality  of  the 
succeeding  vowel;    H   has,  therefore,  no  uniform  sound. 

The  letter  H  is  used  in  connection  with  the  letters  S, 
T,  W,  Z,  to  denote  consonants  which  are  not  represented 
in   the   alphabet;    as   SH    (o)   in  show;    TH  in  thin  (w)  and 


72 

in  then  (w);  WH  (lo)  in  when;  ZH  (c^)  in  vision.  H  is 
also  written  after  P  to  denote  the  sound  of  F,  as  in 
phrase,  physic. 

H  is  silent  after  a  vowel  in  the  same  syllable;  as  in 
ah,  oh;  before  a  consonant,  as  in  John;  in  the  word  thyme; 
and  in  the  combinations,  gh,  kh,  rh,  as  in  ghastly,  khan, 
rheum. 

H  initial  is  silent  in  the  words  heir,  honest,  honour, 
hour,  humour,   (not   in  humor  [fluid]),  and  their  derivatives. 

The  sound  of  H  is  represented  by  h,  wh  (before  o) ;  as 
in   he,  hay,  high,  whole,  who,  whose,  whom. 

J.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  combination 
DZH;  as  in  jail,  jeer,  jilt,  joke,  jot,  just,  &c.  The  letter  G 
has  the  same  sound  in  age,  gender,  ginger.  J  has  the  sound 
of   Y   in   hallelujah. 

J  in  French  has  the  sound  of  ZH;  as  in  jet  d'eau  (c^C  o}) 

For  the   various  orthographies  of  the  sound  of  J  see  G. 

K.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Back  Shut 
consonant  a.  It  denotes  no  other  sound.  K  is  chiefly 
used  before  the  vowels  e,  i,  as  in  key,  kettle,  kind,  kitten. 

The  sound  of  K  is  usually  denoted  by  c  before  the 
vowels  a,  o,  u,  as  in  cage,  cattle,  cold,  cotton,  cube,  custom. 

The  letter  combines  with  no  initial  consonant  except  S, 
as  in   skate,  skeleton,  skiff,  sky. 

K  is  never  used  before  a  consonant  in  the  same  sylla- 
ble.    The  sound  of  K  in  such  cases  is  denoted  by  c,  ch,  q,  &c. 

The  sound  of  K  is  represented  by  k,  c,  q,  cc,  ch,  ck,  cq, 
gh,  ke,  kh,  Ik,  qu,  cch,  equ,  que;  as  in  kill,  can,  quit,  account, 
character,  lack,  acquire,  hough,  lake,  khan,  walk,  quay,  baccha- 
nal, lacquer,  pique. 

K  is  silent  in  the  initial  combination  Kn,  as  in  knave, 
knee,  knife,  knit,  know,  knot. 

L.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Point  Divided 
Voice  consonant  co.     It  also  denotes  the  sound  of  R  in  colonel. 


73 

L  combines  with  the  initial  consonants  p,  b,  f,  c,  (=k), 
g;    as   in   place,  blow,  flow,  class,  glass. 

L   unites   with   no   other   consonant. 

The  sound  of  L  is  represented  by  1,  gl,  le,  11,  In,  si,  sle, 
tie,    as   late,  seraglio,  tale,  tall,  kiln,  island,  isle,  thistle.  " 

L  is  silent  in  calm,  salmon,  would,  walk,  half,  salve,  &c. 

M.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Lip  Shut 
Nasal   Voice   consonant   B.       It  denotes   no   other   sound. 

M  unites  with  no  initial  consonant  except  S;  as  in  small, 
smell,  smile,  &c. 

M  initial  combines  with  no  other  consonant  except  Y; 
as   in   music,  mutual,  &c. 

The  sound  of  M  is  represented  by  m,  n,  gm,  Im,  mb, 
me,  mm,  mn,  chm,  sme;  as  in  aim,  Banff,  paradigm,  palm, 
lamb,  come,  common,  condemn,  drachm,   disme. 

M  is  silent  in  the  initial  combination  MN,  as  in  mne- 
monics. , 

N.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Point  Shut 
Nasal  Voice  consonant  w.  It  denotes,  also,  the  sound  of 
M   in  Banff;    and  of   NG   in  ink,  anchor,  single,  anger,  &c. 

N  unites  with  no  initial  consonant  except  S;  as  in  snail, 
sneeze,  snipe,  snow. 

N  initial  combines  with  no  other  consonant  except  Y; 
as   in  new,  neuter,  nude,  nucleus. 

The  sound  of  N  is  represented  by  dn,  gn,  hn,  kn,  mn, 
mp,  n,  ne,  nn,  sn,  sne;  as  in  Wednesday,  sign,  John,  know, 
mnemonic,  compter,  dun,  done,  inn,  puisne,  demesne. 

N   is   silent   in   hymn,  kiln. 

NG.  This  combination  of  letters  denotes  the  sound  of 
the  Back  Shut  Nasal  Voice  consonant  ^,  which  has  no 
representative   in   the   alphabet. 

The  sound  of  NG  is  never  used  at  the  beginning  of  a 
syllable  in  English;   and  it  unites  with  no  initial  consonant. 

The  sound  of  NG  is  represented  by  n,  nd,  ng;  as  in 
rank,  finger,  handkerchief,  sing,  singer,  bringing. 


74 

The  combination  of  letters  NG  denotes  four  sounds  : 
6.^   in  sing;    €j  q  in  single;    ©  q  in  ingress;   w  Q  ^.  in  change. 

P.  This   letter   represents   the   Lip   Shut   consonant   o. 

P   initial   combines   with   1,   r,  y;    as   in   play,  pray,  pure. 

P  unites  with  no  initial  consonant  except  vS;  as  in  spare, 
speak,  split,  spring. 

The  sound  of  P  is  represented  by  gh,  p,  pe,  ph,  pp,  Ifp, 
as   in  hiccough,  p'ay,  tape,  diphthong,  tippet,  halfpenny. 

P  is  silent  in  the  initial  combinations  pn,  ps,  psh,  pt; 
as  in  pneumatic,  psalm,  pshaw,  ptarmigan;  and  in  assump- 
tion, bumpkin,  cupboard,  &c. 

Q.  This  letter  represents  the  same  sound  as  K,  but  is  used 
only  before  the  letter  u;  as  in  quail,  queer,  quell,  quite, 
quick,  quote.  The  combination  Qu  in  these  words  has  the 
sound  of  Kw.  In  the  word  quay  (=A;ey)  qu  sounds  sim- 
ply  as   K. 

R.  This  letter  represents  the  Point  Voice  consonant  ci), 
and   also   the   Point   G-lide   y. 

R  is  sounded  as  a  consonant  when  before  a  vowel,  and 
as   a  glide   when   before   a   consonant,  or   when   final. 

R  combines  with  the  initial  consonants  p,  b,  t,  d,  c  (=k), 
g  ("hard"),  f,  th,  sh;  as  in  pride,  bride,  tread,  dread,  crow, 
grow,  free,  three,  shrew. 

R   initial   unites   with   no   other   consonant. 

R  (consonant)  is  represented  by  r,  rh,  rr,  rrh;  as  in  rude, 
rhubarb,  mirror,  murrhine. 

R  (glide)  is  represented  by  r,  er,  re,  rr,  rre,  rrh;  as  in 
sir,  power,  fire,  purr,  parterre,  myrrh. 

S.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Point  Mixed 
consonant  y.  It  also  denotes  the  sound  of  Z.  as  in  his, 
ease;  of  SH,  as  in  sure,  sugar,  passion;  and  of  ZH,  as 
in   fusion,  measure,  &c. 

S  Initial  combines  with  p,  t,  k,  f,  1,  m,  n,  w,  y;  as  in 
spy,  sty,  sky,  sphinx,  sleep,  smoke,  snake,  sweet,  sue. 

S   unites   with  no   initial   consonant. 


75 

The  letter  C,  before  e  and  i,  has  the  same  sound  as  S; 
as   in   certain,  circuit. 

The  sound  of  S  is  represented  by  c,  s,  ce,  ps,  sc,  se,  ss, 
see,  tzs;  as  in  cell,  gas,  ice,  psalm,  scent,  base,  loss,  coalesce, 
brltzska. 

S   is   silent   in   chamois,  demesne,  island,  viscount. 

The  digraph  SH  is  used  to  denote  a  consonant  sound 
wliich   is   not  represented   in  the   alphabet.     (See   SH). 

SH.  -This  combination  of  letters  denotes  the  Top  Mixed 
consonant   o. 

SH   initial   combines   only   with  r,  as   in   shrine. 

SH  unites  only  with  the  initial  consonant  T,  forming 
the  compound  sound  usually  represented  by  CH;  as  in 
chair,  chide,  choose,  &c. 

The  sound  of  SH  is  represented  by  ce,  si,  ti,  ch,  sci, 
sh,  ssi,  chs,  psh;  as  in  ocean,  pension,  nation,  chaise,  con- 
science, shape,  mission,  Tuchsia,  pshaw. 

The  letters  SH  denote  three  sounds:  o  in  shock;  u5  in 
dishonour;    y  o    in   mishap. 

T.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Point  Shut 
consonant   d. 

T  initial  combines  with  r,  sh,  y,  w;  as  in  try,  chide, 
tune,  twine. 

T  unites  with  no  initial  consonant  except  S,  as  in  stay, 
stray. 

The  sound  of  T  is  represented  by  t,  bt,  ct,  ed,  pt,  te, 
th,  tt,  cht,  ght,  phth;  as  in  at,  doubt,  indict,  stopped,  tempt, 
granite,  thyme,  letter,  yacht,  night,  phthisis. 

T  is  silent  in  fasten,  hautboy,  mortgage,  Matthew,  soften, 
trait. 

The  digraph  TH  is  used  to  denote  two  consonant  sounds 
which   are   not  represented   in  the   alphabet.       (See    TH). 

TH.  This  combination  of  letters  denotes  the  Point  Mixed 
Divided  consonant  cj,  as  in  thin;  and  also  the  Point  Mixed 
Divided   Voice   consonant   w,  as  in   then. 


76 

TH  (=w)  initial  combines  with  r,  y,  w;  as  in  thrive, 
thurible,  thwart.      It   unites   with   no   initial   consonant. 

TH  (=w)  combines  with  no  other  consonant  in  the  same 
syllable,  except  the  inflectional  letters  d  and  and  s  (=z); 
as   in   breathed,  breathes. 

The  sound  of  TH  (=w)  is  represented  by  h,  th,  tth,  phth; 
as  in   eighth,  thing,  Matthew,  apophthegm. 

The  sound  of  TH  (=w)  is  represented  by  th,  the;  as 
in  this,  breathe. 

V.  This  letter  represents  the  Lip  Divided  Voice  conso- 
nant  3.      It   denotes   no   other   sound. 

V  unites  with  no  other  consonant  in  the  same  syllable 
except  the  inflectional  letters  d  and  s  (=z),  as  in  lived, 
lives. 

The  sound  of  V  is  represented  by  f,  ph,  v,  ve,  zv;  as 
in  of,  nephew,  vain,  have,  rendezvous. 

W.  This  letter  represents  the  Lip  Mixed  Voice  consonant 
3;    and   also   the   Lip   Mixed   Grlide  .i. 

W   initial   is   always   a   consonant. 

W  (=3)  combines  with  the  initial  consonants  d,  q,  s, 
t,  th;    as   in   dwarf,  quality,  sward,  twelve,  thwart. 

The  sound  of  W  (=})  unites  with  the  vowel  O  in  the 
English  pronunciation  of  the  name-sound  of  that  letter  (}?) ; 
as  in  know,  low,  go;  and  forms,  with  the  vowel  3,  the 
diphthongal   sound   of    ou,  ow   (3i);    as   in   out,  now. 

The  sound  of  W  (=3)  is  represented  by  o,  u,  w;  as  in 
one,  persuade,  way. 

The  sound  of  W  (=i)  is  represented  by  u,  w;  as  in 
noun,  town.  This  element  is  implied  as  an  unrepresented 
part  of   the   sound   of  O,  as   in   oh,  so,  foe,  home,  sole. 

WH.  This  combination  of  letters  represents  the  Lip  Mixed 
consonant   o,  as   in   what,  when,  which,  why. 

WH  is  used  only  at  the  beginning  of  a  syllable.  It 
unites   with   no   other   consonant. 


77 

X.  This  letter  represents  a  combination  of  the  letters  KS, 
as   in   six;   of  GZ,  as  in  exist;   and  of  KSH,  as  in  anxious. 

X  initial   has   the   sound  of  Z,  as   in   xystus,  xylography. 

The  sound  of  X  (=:ks)  is  represented  by  x,  cc,  ks,  xc, 
xe,  chs,  cks,  ques;  as  in  ox,  accept,  works,  exceed,  axe, 
stomachs,  wrecks,  barques. 

The  sound  of  X  (=gz)  iff  represented  by  x,  gs,  ggs; 
as   in   exalt,  figs,  eggs. 

The  sound  of  X  (=ksh)  is  represented  by  x,  ct,  as  in 
noxious,  fractious,  action. 

For  the   sound   of  X   (=z)    see   Z. 

Y.  This  letter  represents  the  Top  Voice  consonant  o, 
and  also  the  Top  Glide  ?;.     Y  initial  is  always  a  consonant. 

The  sound  of  Y  consonant,  [involved  in  the  name-sound 
of  the  letter  U  (=:yoo),]  combines  with  the  initial  conso- 
nants p,  b,  m,  t,  d,  n,  k,  g,  f,  v,  s,  z,  th;  as  in  pure,  bu- 
reau, mute,  tutor,  duke,  neutral,  curious,  gule^,  future,  view, 
sue,  zeugma,  thews. 

The  sound  of  Y  ((t){  is  represented  by  e,  i,  j,  u,  y;  as 
in  righteous,  million,  hallelujah,  universe,  you. 

The  sound  of  Y  (^)  unites  with  the  vowel  [  in  the  Eng- 
lish pronunciation  of  the  name-sound  of  A  (C^);  as  in 
able,  day,  pray,  weigh;  also  with  the  vowel  3  in  the  name- 
sound  of  I  (]?;),  as  in  idle,  high,  height;  and  with  the 
vowel   J   in  the   sound  of   oi,  oy   (j«),  as   in   oil,  oyster. 

Z.  This  letter  represents  the  sound  of  the  Point  Mixed 
Voice  consonant  oi.  It  also  represents  the  sound  of  ZH 
in   azure. 

Z   unites   with   no   initial   consonant. 

The  sound  of  Z  is  represented  by  s,  x,  z,  ce,  cz,  ds,  sc, 
se,  sh,  ss,  ze,  zz;  as  in  has,  xebec,  zeal,  sacrifice  (verb),  czar, 
Windsor,  discern,  ease,  dishonest,  scissors,  baize,  buzz. 


78 

A  SILENT  ARGUMENT. 

The  preceding  lists  of  sounds,  represented  by  long  cat- 
egories of  letters  and  combinations  of  letters,  stand  in  strong 
contrast  to  the  uniformly  single  qualities  of  sound  denoted 
by  the  elements  of  the  physiological  alphabet.  The  com- 
plexity and  confusion  of  the  phonetics  of  Roman  letters 
form  a  silent  but  eloquent  argument  in  favour  of  a  totally 
distinct  means  of  symbolising  vocal  sounds.  English  lit- 
erature is  indissolubly  associated  with  the  prevailing 
"  orthographic  "  writing.  The  latter  may  be  retained  with- 
out disturbance  if  only  we  have  an  interpretive  medium 
of  purely  phonetic  writing,  to  be  used  as  a  key  to 
"  orthography."  We  cannot  phoneticise  Romanic  writing 
without  destroying  the  visible  identity  of  words.  Let  us 
then  establish  two  systems  of  writing — possessing,  besides, 
the  manifest  advantage  of  complete  unlikeness — the  one, 
ideographic   and   classic;    the   other,   phonetic   and    popular. 


Tiie  physiological  alphabet  is  now  available  in  two 
typographic  forms :  that  of  "  Visible  Speech,"  illustrated 
in  this  Work;  and  that  shown  in  English  "  Line- Writing."  * 

The  elementary  characters  in  both  systems  are  equally 
exact,  phonetically;  but  the  Line-Writing  symbols — consist- 
ing only  of  single  lines — possess  the  recommendation,  for 
initiatory  purposes,  of  the  utmost  possible  simplicity  of 
outline. 


END. 


*  Published  by  E.  S.  Werner,  New  York.     Price,  60  cents, 
post-paid. 


,-  ir« ' 


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